Stereotype Threat and the Importance of it

The Importance of Stereotype Threat 

Stereotype threats/stigmas are predicaments where one would conform to stereotypes about their particular group. I also believe this occurs when other individuals succumb to stereotypes about one's particular group based on being placed in situations/events/experiences that have a predetermined outcome defined by society.  For example, the education system. I have found that a teacher’s implicit bias based on stereotypes can either make or break a student. There is a School-to-Prison pipeline. This is an institutionalized system where a disproportionate amount of minority students with nonconventional backgrounds become incarcerated due to harsh reprimanding policies. When a teacher has to make a decision of “who gets in trouble” based on a situation of two students, one white privileged student and one underprivileged minority student, without witnessing the situation first hand, the sad truth is that the underprivileged student will most likely suffer from the situation.

The traits of stereotype threat is only solidified through situational happenings  and shouldn’t be confused with an individual's traits. Delving into this aspect of student life as it pertains to the impact on minority groups is an interesting and effective method in understanding the life they live. The situation of conforming to stereotype threat is useful and sometimes necessary when moving throughout life for certain minority groups. While it creates misperceived notions for some people  because they are saving face in their social circles and specifically social situations. Situational occurrences give weight to the understanding that keeping a facade for certain stereotypes for individuals is more comfortable than producing to the best of that person's abilities and putting forth the necessary effort. 

The best way to breakdown stereotype threat and its dynamic involvement that it plays in everyday lives is to take in the limiting factors that it presents in conforming and to look at the options of going against the norm and performing to maximum potential. This understanding of stereotype threat  or the stigma associated with this concept is that it provides minority groups with negatively associated stereotypes to conform to, in a sense. Then these negatively implicated mannerisms get associated to the actual groups. It is also looked at as a contributing factor to gaps that are racially prompted when looking into academic proficiencies and academic competency among students.

For example, I went to the Dominican Republic with some peers for a class about ecotourism within the country and ended up learning more about stereotype threats/stigmas between Dominicans and Haitians. The Dominican Republic and Haiti are two bordering countries that make up an island of what was known as Hispaniola. Historically, these countries have not gotten along but have relied on each other in some events. Mainly, the Dominicans have not had the best relations with Haitians due to their dark complexion. That’s a big component of why they are two countries. The Dominicans wanted to keep their lighter complexions and thought this would be a good way to ensure that. The progressives in the Dominican look past all of that and welcome all, but there is still a big cloud of comfortability between the two groups. The Haitians that live in the Dominican Republic stay off in their own area due to not being able to thrive in the country. There are laws and ordinances in place that keep Haitians from having the same privileges and rights as Dominicans. The stereotype about Hatians are that, to be blunt, they are cannibalistic savages who will never be on the same “level” as the Dominicans. As a Dominican child, you were told that if you didn’t eat all of your food that a Haitian would come and eat you. When you instill this kind of rhetoric in an impressionable child, it stays with them. Now, because of these stereotypes, Hatians don’t actually act upon them because of a stereotype threat, but it creates a huge divide between the two groups, making it really hard to work together and prosper.

"The Effects of Stereotype Threat on the Standardized Test Performance
 of College Students (adjusted for group differences on SAT)".
From J. Aronson, C.M. Steele, M.F. Salinas, M.J. Lustina,
Readings About the Social Animal, 8th edition, ed. E. Aronson

The complexion issue between the two groups is confusing because the Dominican Republic is composed of a lot of dark skinned individuals. Myself being a darker skinned individual, I was expecting to come across some discrimination, but I was loved. The hierarchical rank was baffling. Me being an American trumped the fact that I was black, so I was treated very well. There is this notion that in the Dominican, the darker you are, the more adored you were, which is a huge juxtaposition of them having an issue with Haitians dark complexion. But, as long as you were Dominican, it did not matter. Which brought up the question of: how was one able to differentiate between a dark skinned Dominican and a Hatian? The answer to that was the dialect of Spanish they spoke, crazy.

Along the way I had visited an elementary school. There were about 20 kids and three of them were born Dominicans with Haitian parents. You could obviously tell the children weren’t as included in their class as they would have liked. They were made to go to the back of the line and receive their lunch last, and kids wouldn’t play with them. It was pitiful.

On a side note, they don’t like white people, not just Americans but Europeans. The Dominican Republic is a huge prostitution hub with a majority of recipients being white individuals. Dominicans believe that they are taken advantage of because of their economic instability. The money is good but the people giving it are not. There were four white individuals on the trip and they had very interesting experiences, some leaving them feeling uncomfortable and some feeling welcomed.

I hope to go back some day and learn more about the history and culture of the Dominican.

Reference: 

Steele, C. M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: how stereotypes affect us and what we can do.