Stereotype threat and the cognitive performance of adolescent immigrants: The role of cultural identity strength

• Published in: Contemporary educational psychology Vol. 42; pp. 71 - 81
• Main Authors: Weber, Silvana, Appel, Markus, Kronberger, Nicole
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego Elsevier Inc 01.07.2015; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adolescent immigrants; Cognition & reasoning; Cultural identity; Ethnicity; Identity strength; Migrant Education; Noncitizens; Racial Identification; Secondary Schools; Social identity; Stereotype threat; Stereotypes; Teenagers; Acculturation; Adolescent immigrants; Identity strength; Social identity; Stereotype threat
• ISSN: 0361-476X; 1090-2384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.05.001

•Stereotype threat is a detrimental state that can lead to underperformance.•We focused on the impact of immigrant adolescents' identity under threat.•Two experiments were conducted at secondary schools in Austria.•Residence culture identity strength predicted better performance under threat.•Our research connects stereotype threat and acculturation research. In many world regions students with certain immigrant backgrounds underperform in educational settings. Theory and research suggest that this achievement gap could be partially explained by stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is a detrimental psychological state that inhibits individuals who belong to a negatively stereotyped group at times of learning and performance. The aim of this work was to examine both the influence of students' residence culture identity strength and ethnic identity strength on their cognitive performance under threat. Two experimental studies, conducted in European secondary schools, are reported. Experiment 1 (N = 132) showed that in a situation of explicit stereotype threat, high identification of immigrants with their residence culture predicted better cognitive performance, independently of ethnic identity strength. Residence culture identity strength was unrelated to cognitive performance in a control condition or a more implicit threat condition. Experiment 2 (N = 152) included an experimental manipulation of residence culture identity strength. The results show that highlighting similarities with the residence culture (vs. highlighting differences) positively influences immigrant students' performance under threat. This research connects the stereotype threat framework with acculturation research, and points at ways to increase the educational achievement of immigrant students.