Chapter 9 - Stereotype threat and intellectual virtue

Summary

The declarative use of the language of intellectual virtue and vice, especially in official contexts, can have self-confirming effects, and the channels through which these effects flow include both the people who make the declarations (teachers, administrators, parents) and the people about whom they are made (students). The distinction between first- and second-order dispositions can be illustrated with the example of open-mindedness. The chapter discusses the ultimate target: stereotype threat. It shows that the combination of stereotype threat for minority test-takers and stereotype lift for majority test-takers may account for as much as half of the race and gender gaps in various measures of academic achievement and ability. Stereotype threat even arises in the context of athletics. Self-monitoring is clearly a second-order internal cognitive disposition, and it moderates the effects of stereotype threat.