The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat
When female students are reminded of successful role models whom they deem deserving of their success, they feel less pressure to represent their group through performance on a test.
Cite this Article
Taylor, Cheryl A., et al. "The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 14.4 (2011): 447-459.
Taylor, C. A., Lord, C. G., McIntyre, R. B., & Paulson, R. M. (2011). The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14(4), 447-459.
Taylor, Cheryl A., Charles G. Lord, Rusty B. McIntyre, and René M. Paulson. "The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 14, no. 4 (2011): 447-459.
Authors
This article was written by , , and , and was originally published by Group Processes Intergroup Relations in February of 2011In test-taking scenarios, being reminded of negative stereotypes about one’s identity group can inhibit performance. This phenomenon, known as stereotype threat, has been frequently observed when women take math tests. When women are reminded of negative stereotypes about women’s math aptitude, they tend to perform worse than they would otherwise. Exposure to role models is an effective method of combatting stereotype threat. Previous studies have shown that stereotype threat in test-taking increases the number of thoughts unrelated to the test. By contrast, exposure to successful in-group role models reduces the occurrence of non-test-related thoughts, increasing focus and performance.
President Barack Obama’s visibility as a successful role model has had a significant impact on African American students’ test scores. With such a salient in-group role model, African American students are less likely to feel pressure to “represent” their race, and the decrease in stereotype threat leads to appreciable gains in test scores. Other research has indicated that role models’ success alone is not sufficient to combat stereotype threat. Role models who are believed to have earned success are more impactful than those perceived to have succeeded through luck, favoritism, or cheating.
Here, the authors examine whether being presented with an in-group role model who achieved success through ethical and favorable means mitigates the detrimental effect of stereotype threat on test scores, as compared with being presented with an in-group model who did not earn the success. To do so, they randomly assigned female students to one of three conditions: 1) test-only, 2) threat-only, and 3) threat + role model. Women in the threat-only and threat + role model conditions were reminded that women are not good at math prior to taking the test. Those in the threat-only condition read a narrative of a successful corporation prior to the exam, while those in the threat + role model group read a factual biography of Hillary Clinton before taking the exam.
Whether or not female test-takers believed that the in-group role model deserved her success greatly affected whether the pre-test role model exposure was able to mitigate the effects of stereotype threat. Women who believed Hillary Clinton deserved her success scored as well as the test-only control group, while those who had earlier claimed she did not deserve her success scored as poorly as a threat-only control group.
- Women in the threat-only condition (who read a biography of a corporation rather than of a successful woman role model and were reminded of the stereotype that women are bad at math), performed significantly worse than women in the test-only condition, with a mean test score of 50.71% compared to a mean score of 59.37%. Stereotype threat significantly lowers average test scores for members of the stereotyped group.
- Women in the threat + role model group scored significantly higher if they found Hillary Clinton deserving of her success (undeserving mean score 48.85%, deserving mean score 63.29%). Reading about Hilary Clinton as a female role model only buffered women from the negative effects of stereotype threat if they felt she was deserving of her success
- For women in the threat-only condition, Hillary Clinton’s perceived deservingness of success had no effect on performance. This experimental manipulation check indicates that it was being presented with a female role model that affected stereotype threat’s impact on test scores, not underlying beliefs about Hillary Clinton.
This study indicates that an individual’s beliefs about a successful role model moderate the effectiveness of that role model in overcoming stereotype threat. A successful in-group role model who succeeded through internal, stable causes decreases the pressure on individuals to positively represent their group through test performance. But if individuals believe the role model achieved success through unearned, external causes, exposure to the role model has no effect in mitigating stereotype threat.
Pilot Study: The study included 75 female undergraduates, who participated for course credit. Participants were asked to list in one column the names of five women who had been very successful in life and deserved their success. They were also asked to list in a separate column the names of two women who had been very successful in life, but did not deserve their success, i.e. “women who you would not find it reassuring to have on your team if you were faced with a difficult task.”
Participants then rated each listed woman on 1) how much her success was due to something outside her (external cause) versus her own character (internal cause); 2) how stable her level of success had been and/or would be over time; 3) how much they would want each listed woman “on their team” in a difficult situation, how much having her “on their team” in a difficult situation would reduce their worry about doing well, and 4) how successful she was.
This preliminary study helped identify the role model used in the main study, described below.
Main Study: 113 college women participated for course credit. They rated the extent to which Hillary Clinton and five other successful women (i.e., Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton, Condoleezza Rice, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears) deserved their success. These ratings were on a 7-point scale that ranged from −3 = not at all to +3 = very much.
One to two months later, as part of a seemingly unrelated study, the women were randomly assigned to three conditions: 1) threat + role model condition, 2) threat-only condition, and 3) test-only (control) condition. Women in the threat + role model and threat-only conditions were told that they were going to take a version of the Graduate Record Examination Quantitative (GRE-Q) section and reminded of the stereotype that women are not good at math.
Before they took the math test, in an “unrelated” experiment, women in the threat + role model condition read a brief, factual biographical sketch of Hillary Clinton. Women in the threat-only condition read a narrative of a fictitious successful corportation.
Finally, all participants took a test with 26 sample GRE-Q items, the same test used in previous research on stereotype threat among women. The items were moderately difficult because previous research has shown that stereotype threat impairs performance only on tests that are challenging.
Cite this Article
Taylor, Cheryl A., et al. "The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 14.4 (2011): 447-459.
Taylor, C. A., Lord, C. G., McIntyre, R. B., & Paulson, R. M. (2011). The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14(4), 447-459.
Taylor, Cheryl A., Charles G. Lord, Rusty B. McIntyre, and René M. Paulson. "The Hillary Clinton effect: When the same role model inspires or fails to inspire improved performance under stereotype threat." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 14, no. 4 (2011): 447-459.
