Stereotype threat is linked to language achievement and domain identification in young males: Working memory and intellectual helplessness as mediators

Abstract

AbstractIn the present paper, we investigated the link between stereotype threat, school achievement, and domain identification in language arts. We hypothesized that stereotype threat may lead to higher intellectual helplessness, lower working memory capacity, lower achievement, and domain identification but only in young men highly identified with their gender group. To test these assumptions we used self‐descriptive measures of stereotype threat, intellectual helplessness, gender identification, and domain identification. We also evaluated working memory capacity by working memory test and school achievement using grade point average. Our predictions were tested in structural equation modeling on a nationwide sample of 319 young men from coeducational schools, aged 14–16 years. The results revealed that working memory was a mediator of achievement (γ = 0.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.34, 0.55]), while intellectual helplessness was related to both domain identification (γ = −0.13, 95% CI = [−0.22, −0.04]) and achievement (γ = −0.13, 95% CI = [−0.21, −0.06]). The proposed model extends our previous work on the role of intellectual helplessness in mathematics by testing the same intervening variable in a different domain, that is, in language arts. We discuss these results in light of previous research on stereotype threat and present practical implications.