Thanks to Stacy Kennedy on the Stereotype threat thread I’m reading Claude Steele’s Whistling Vivaldi.
He notes that we in the US live in an individualistic society.
We don’t like to think that conditions tied to our social identities have much say in our lives, especially if we don’t want them to.
We’re supposed to rise above such things. He subscribes to that idea himself. But –
But this book offers an important qualification to this creed: that by imposing on us certain conditions of life, our social identities can strongly affect things as important as our performance in the classroom and on standardized tests, our memory capacity, our athletic performance, the pressure we feel to prove ourselves…[p 4]
We’re all subject to it. All.
Suppose you go to a psych lab and play miniature golf. Suppose you’re told before you start that the task measures “natural athletic ability.” Guess who does badly. White students. Then again suppose you’re told the task measures “sports strategic intelligence.” Guess who does badly. Black students.
Striking, isn’t it.