Author : Leah G. Reisz
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780494296066
Total Pages : 76 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (96 download)
Book Synopsis The Effect of Cross-sex Social Comparisons on the Math Test Performance of Women in the Sciences by : Leah G. Reisz
Download or read book The Effect of Cross-sex Social Comparisons on the Math Test Performance of Women in the Sciences written by Leah G. Reisz and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present research examined the impact of social comparison information on the math test performance and attitudes of women who were highly identified with this domain. Female participants were given either diagnostic or non-diagnostic math test instructions, and were then provided with social comparison information about an outstanding male or female mathematician. Consistent with the hypotheses, women performed worse on a challenging math test after reading about a first-year male university student who excelled in mathematics, as compared to women who received identical female social comparison information or women in a control condition. Surprisingly, however, no effect of the stereotype threat manipulation emerged, and the manipulations had no reliable effect on women's implicit or explicit attitudes towards mathematics. Explanations for these findings and additional strategies to buffer the effect that male social comparisons may have on women's math test performance are discussed.