Gender stereotypes and academic performance: the influence of salient role models on stereotype validation

Because people frequently seek out role models, a great deal of research has examined the effects that they can have on those who look up to them. One effect that has not been previously studied is the extent to which role models can affect people’s certainty in their previous performance perceptions.

During a process called stereotype validation, people who perform poorly on a task (e.g., an academic test) become more certain that their performance was poor when they are afterwards reminded of a stereotype that supports this perception. For example, when a woman performs poorly on a math test, she will be more certain that she performed poorly if, after the test, she is reminded of the stereotype that women are bad at math. Because the stereotype fits with her perception that she performed poorly on the math test, she should be more certain that her performance was indeed poor. Importantly, when a woman is certain of her poor performance, she is less likely to believe in her math abilities and less likely to believe that she could perform well on a future math test.

The goal of the current research was to investigate whether women become less or more certain that they performed poorly after they read about female role models who have performed well in a stereotyped domain. The current research found that women become less certain in their poor performance after looking up to a female role model.