Allport's Legacy and the Situational Press of Stereotypes

Journal of Social Issues, Fall, 1999 by David M. Marx, Joseph L. Brown, Claude M. Steele

CLAUDE M. STEELE is Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. He received his BA from Hiram College in 1967 and earned his MA in 1969 and his PhD in 1971 at the Ohio State University. He conducts laboratory and field research on how people cope with threats to their self-image that has led to a general theory of self-affirmation processes. His most recently federally funded research focuses on the reactions of minority group members to being negatively stereotyped, and their effects on shaping intellectual identity and performance. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gordon W. Allport Intergroup Relations Prize for his article "A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance," published in the American Psychologist (1997).

(*.) Preparation of this article was made possible by the Stimson Fund (33-440-2575-2) and a Knox Fund Grant (33-440-18102-30) to David M. Marx. We thank David Atkins, Cristale Brown, Macarena Correa, Alisha Creel, Morgan Goulet, David Roddenberry, Chris Soto, Pam Vohra, and Greg Walton for their assistance in executing these studies. We arc also grateful to Steve Most, Karen Ruggiero, and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David M. Marx, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 [e-mail: dmm@wjh.harvard.edu].

References

Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. New York: Doubleday Books.

Aronson, J., Lustina, M. J., Good, C., Keough, K., Steele, C. M., & Brown, J. L. (1999). When White men can't do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 29--46.

Brill, A. A. (Ed.). (1938). The basic writings of Sigmund Freud. New York: Random House.

Brown, J. L., & Steele, C. M. (1999). Creating trust vs. boosting confidence: Constrasting approaches to reducing the effects of negative stereotypes on intellectual performance. Manuscript in preparation, University of Washington, Seattle.

Brunstein, J. C., & Gollwitzer, P.M. (1996). Effects of failure on subsequent performance: The importance of self-defining goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 395-407.

Cohen, G. L., Steele, C. M., & Ross, L. D. (in press). The mentor's dilemma: Providing critical feedback across the racial divide. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Howard, J., & Hammond, R. (1985, September 9). Rumors of inferiority. New Republic, 72, 18-23.

Major, B., & Schmader, T. (1998). Coping with stigma through psychological disengagement. In J. K. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target's perspective (pp. 219-241). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Major, B., Spencer, S., Schmader, T., Wolfe, C., & Crocker, J. (1998). Coping with negative stereotypes about intellectual performance: The role of psychological disengagement. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin, 24, 34-50.