Domain identification moderates the effect of positive stereotypes on Chinese American women's math performance

We examined whether an individual difference factor, math domain identification, moderated performance following positive stereotype activation. We hypothesized that positive stereotype activation would improve performance for those more math identified (compared to a control condition), but would hinder performance for those less math identified. We examined 116 Chinese American women (mean age = 19 years). Participants were assigned to the positive stereotype activation condition or to the control condition before completing a math test. Positive stereotype activation led more math identified participants to perform significantly better than the control condition, whereas it led less math identified participants to perform significantly worse than the control condition. Domain identification moderates the effect of positive stereotype activation. Educators should consider how testing situations are constructed, especially when test takers do not identify highly with the domain.