Editing Race and intelligence (section)

===Stereotype threat and minority status===
{{Main|Stereotype threat}}
[[Stereotype threat]] is the fear that one's behavior will confirm an existing [[stereotype]] of a group with which one identifies or by which one is defined; this fear may in turn lead to an impairment of performance.<ref>{{harvnb|Aronson|Wilson|Akert| 2005}}</ref> Testing situations that highlight the fact that intelligence is being measured tend to lower the scores of individuals from racial-ethnic groups who already score lower on average or are expected to score lower. Stereotype threat conditions cause larger than expected IQ differences among groups.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steele |first1=Claude M. |title=A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance |journal=American Psychologist |volume=52 |issue=6 |year=1997 |pages=613–629 |issn=0003-066X |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613 |pmid=9174398 |citeseerx=10.1.1.319.8283|s2cid=19952 }}</ref> Psychometrician [[Nicholas Mackintosh]] considers that there is little doubt that the effects of stereotype threat contribute to the IQ gap between black people and white people.{{sfn|Mackintosh|2011|p=348}}

A large number of studies have shown that systemically disadvantaged minorities, such as the African American minority of the United States, generally perform worse in the educational system and in intelligence tests than the majority groups or less disadvantaged minorities such as immigrant or "voluntary" minorities.{{sfn|Neisser|Boodoo|Bouchard|Boykin|1996}} The explanation of these findings may be that children of caste-like minorities, due to the systemic limitations of their prospects of social advancement, do not have "[[effort optimism]]", i.e. they do not have the confidence that acquiring the skills valued by majority society, such as those skills measured by IQ tests, is worthwhile. They may even deliberately reject certain behaviors that are seen as "[[acting white]]."{{sfn|Neisser|Boodoo|Bouchard|Boykin|1996}}{{sfn|Ogbu|1978}}{{sfn|Ogbu|1994}} Research published in 1997 indicates that part of the black–white gap in cognitive ability test scores is due to racial differences in test motivation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=D. |last2=Schmitt |first2=N. |last3=DeShon |first3=R. P. |last4=Clause |first4=C. S. |last5=Delbridge |first5=K. |date=April 1997 |title=Reactions to cognitive ability tests: the relationships between race, test performance, face validity perceptions, and test-taking motivation |journal=The Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=82 |issue=2 |pages=300–310 |issn=0021-9010 |pmid=9109288 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.82.2.300|url=https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/230 }}</ref>

Some researchers have suggested that stereotype threat should not be interpreted as a factor in real-life performance gaps, and have raised the possibility of [[publication bias]].<ref name="Ganley2013">{{cite journal |vauthors=Ganley CM, Mingle LA, Ryan AM, Ryan K, Vasilyeva M, Perry M |title=An examination of stereotype threat effects on girls' mathematics performance |journal=Developmental Psychology |volume=49 |issue=10 |pages=1886–97 |date=October 2013 |pmid=23356523 |doi=10.1037/a0031412 |url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/85192141/2013-ganley.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.353.4436 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719005546/https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/85192141/2013-ganley.pdf  |archive-date=19 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="Stoet2012">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Stoet G, Geary DC |doi=10.1037/a0026617 |title=Can stereotype threat explain the gender gap in mathematics performance and achievement? |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=16 |pages=93–102 |year=2012 |s2cid=145724069}} [http://volition.gla.ac.uk/~stoet/pdf/Stoet-Geary-RGP2012.pdf Pdf.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112130459/http://volition.gla.ac.uk/~stoet/pdf/Stoet-Geary-RGP2012.pdf |date=2016-01-12 }}</ref><ref name="Flore2014">{{cite journal |vauthors=Flore PC, Wicherts JM |title=Does stereotype threat influence performance of girls in stereotyped domains? A meta-analysis |journal=Journal of School Psychology |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=25–44 |date=February 2015 |pmid=25636259 |doi=10.1016/j.jsp.2014.10.002|s2cid=206516995 }}</ref> Other critics have focused on correcting what they claim are misconceptions of early studies showing a large effect.<ref name="Sackett2004a">{{cite journal |vauthors=Sackett PR, Hardison CM, Cullen MJ |title=On interpreting stereotype threat as accounting for African American-White differences on cognitive tests |journal=The American Psychologist |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=7–13 |date=January 2004 |pmid=14736315 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.7 |url=http://www2.uni-jena.de/svw/igc/studies/ss03/sackitt_hardison_cullen_2004.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404150510/http://www2.uni-jena.de/svw/igc/studies/ss03/sackitt_hardison_cullen_2004.pdf  |archive-date=2013-04-04}}</ref> However, numerous [[Meta-analysis|meta-analyses]] and systematic reviews have shown significant evidence for the effects of stereotype threat, though the phenomenon defies over-simplistic characterization.<ref name="Pennington-2016">{{cite journal |vauthors=Pennington CR, Heim D, Levy AR, Larkin DT |date=2016-01-11 |title=Twenty Years of Stereotype Threat Research: A Review of Psychological Mediators |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=e0146487 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1146487P |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0146487 |pmc=4713435 |pmid=26752551 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Nguyen-2008">{{cite journal |vauthors=Nguyen HH, Ryan AM |date=November 2008 |title=Does stereotype threat affect test performance of minorities and women? A meta-analysis of experimental evidence |journal=The Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=93 |issue=6 |pages=1314–34 |doi=10.1037/a0012702 |pmid=19025250|s2cid=36769821 }}</ref><ref name="Walton-2009">{{Cite journal |last1=Walton |first1=Gregory M. |last2=Spencer |first2=Steven J. |date=2009-09-01 |title=Latent Ability: Grades and Test Scores Systematically Underestimate the Intellectual Ability of Negatively Stereotyped Students |journal=Psychological Science |volume=20 |issue=9 |pages=1132–1139 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02417.x |issn=0956-7976 |pmid=19656335 |s2cid=25810191|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gentile |first1=Ambra |last2=Boca |first2=Stefano |last3=Giammusso |first3=Isabella |date=2018-11-01 |title='You play like a Woman!' Effects of gender stereotype threat on Women's performance in physical and sport activities: A meta-analysis |journal=Psychology of Sport and Exercise |volume=39 |pages=95–103 |doi=10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.07.013 |s2cid=149490634 |issn=1469-0292}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lamont |first1=Ruth A. |last2=Swift |first2=Hannah J. |last3=Abrams |first3=Dominic |year=2015 |title=A Review and Meta-Analysis of Age-Based Stereotype Threat: Negative Stereotypes, Not Facts, Do the Damage. |journal=Psychology and Aging |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=180–193 |doi=10.1037/a0038586 |issn=1939-1498 |pmc=4360754 |pmid=25621742}}</ref><ref name="Picho-2013">{{Cite journal |last1=Picho |first1=Katherine |last2=Rodriguez |first2=Ariel |last3=Finnie |first3=Lauren |date=May 2013 |title=Exploring the Moderating Role of Context on the Mathematics Performance of Females Under Stereotype Threat: A Meta-Analysis |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237000996 |journal=The Journal of Social Psychology |volume=153 |issue=3 |pages=299–333 |doi=10.1080/00224545.2012.737380 |pmid=23724702 |s2cid=45950675}}</ref><ref name="Liu-2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Songqi |last2=Liu |first2=Pei |last3=Wang |first3=Mo |last4=Zhang |first4=Baoshan |date=July 2020 |title=Effectiveness of Stereotype Threat Interventions: A Meta-Analytic Review |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343149798 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=currently in press |issue=6 |pages=921–949 |doi=10.1037/apl0000770 |pmid=32772526 |s2cid=221098319}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=June 2024}} For instance, one meta-analysis found that with female subjects "subtle threat-activating cues produced the largest effect, followed by blatant and moderately explicit cues" while with minorities "moderately explicit stereotype threat-activating cues produced the largest effect, followed by blatant and subtle cues".<ref name="Nguyen-2008" />

Some researchers have argued that studies of stereotype threat may in fact systematically under-represent its effects, since such studies measure "only that portion of psychological threat that research has identified and remedied. To the extent that unidentified or unremedied psychological threats further undermine performance, the results underestimate the bias."<ref name="Walton-2009"/>