Question

In a study by Steele, African-American college students performed poorer on a task than European-American college students when they were told the task was a test of academic ability, while they performed the same as the European-American college students when they were told the task was a laboratory problem-solving task. The results of this study illustrate the concept of

a. dogmatism
b. group prejudice
c. stereotype threat
d. symbolic prejudice

Answer 1

The study by Steele demonstrates the concept of stereotype threat, where African-American students' performance was negatively affected when a task was framed as a test of academic ability due to the activation of a negative stereotype.

Step-by-step explanation:

The results of the study by Steele illustrate the concept of stereotype threat. This phenomenon occurs when individuals who belong to a group that is subject to a negative stereotype experience anxiety in a situation where that stereotype is relevant, which can then lead to poorer performance. In the study, African-American college students performed worse than European-American students on a task when it was framed as a test of academic ability, thereby triggering the stereotype that African-Americans are less academically capable.

However, when the task was presented as just a laboratory problem-solving task, and thus the stereotype was not relevant, they performed equally to their European-American peers.