A SOCIAL IMPACT TREND IN THE EFFECTS OF ROLE MODELS ON ALLEVIATING WOMEN'S MATHEMATICS STEREOTYPE THREAT

The present research examined the relationship between number of successful role models and alleviation of performance deficits that women suffer under mathematics stereotype threat. Men and women were reminded of the stereotype, read brief biographies of 0-4 successful women, and took a difficult math test. Women who read no biographies scored worse than men; women who read 4 biographies scored as well as men. Increases in women's performance across the number of role models were consistent with a power function trend predicted by social impact theory (Latane, 1981). This relationship with social impact theory suggests new directions in understanding how role models alleviate stereotype threat.