Identity in Context and Stereotyping - Article Example

Identity in Context and Stereotyping Identity refers to who one is, the way they think about themselves as well as how the world perceives them. Our identity is in most cases shaped by the environment around us, which could be the media or culture in the society we live. Stereotype threat on the other hand is the situation individuals find themselves in and develop the fear of being judged in a negative way due to the stereotype. The environment one lives, their education or gender are the bases of these stereotypes we experience in our society. As far as gender is concerned, there exists a stereotype that females are poor in mathematics and this has proven to negatively impact on them by having them down their tools in the subject, thereby compromising their performance. Throughout this essay, an analysis of how various themes as gender, culture and identity will be constructed as well as how they bring about stereotyping in the society. Just to provide an overview of stereotype threat, it is important that we look at how (Steel and Aronson 797-811) made their argument; that stereotype threat to a greater extend lowers the performance of an individual as in the case of African American students in the reasoning and conceptual understanding sector. They have been overpowered and grounded by the stereotype that they do not have the ability to perform well in the said domains as compared to the Americans themselves. In such a case when individuals are facing stereotyping, it is better if they do not learn about it as the moment these African Americans got to know about the doubt on their abilities, their performance suddenly downsized. Social identity is equally threatened whenever individuals in a particular group develop a feeling that they have been negatively judged. According to Tajfel & Turner(1986), in reference to the social theory, it is clear that every member of a particular group would always struggle to make sure that they are surrounded by positive energy and that they are perceived positively by others. It is as soon as these positive perceptions face challenges that social identity threat is realized. Social identity threat and stereotype threat are considered by scholars to have similar elements that they share; for instance, just as stereotype threat gets individuals concerned about their self, social identity threat makes people belonging to a particular group concerned about the group’s well-being as well as how people perceive it(Derks, Inzlicht & Kang 163-181). Social identity and stereotype threats are consequential in areas performance, learning, among others In terms of performance, members of different gender groups are expected to perform dismally in areas where they are considered inadequate in terms of their ability. According to (KrendI, Richeson, Kelley & Heatherton 168-175), if it occurs as a constant reminder to them, of their deficiency in ability their performance is said to diminish; which is quite evident in female students as far as mathematics subject is concerned. If they are kept on being reminded about their inability to perform well in Mathematics, their performance immediately goes down. A similar thing occurs in men as far as their verbal skills are concerned, being that it always has been a stereotype that men are poor when it comes to verbal skills, this idea that has been implanted in their heads makes it almost impossible for them to perform well in the sector(Ford, Ferguson, Brooks & Hagadone 635-643). This kind of threat does not however only occur on gender grounds but different other domains too. Research has proven that athletics performance among whites has to a great extent gone down to their always being reminded about prowess of blacks in the sector; who at the same time have proven to perform better than whites in a long time. Though there exists some truth however about the notion of women being poor in mathematics, men in verbal skills and whites in athletics, this deficiency in ability does not represent a whole population of these groups of individuals. We have women in the fields of medicine. Engineering, statistical mathematics and actuarial science, and with this therefore we cannot choose to say with finality that women are poor in the subject. As in the case of men, their verbal skills have proven smart for those in the fields of media and journalism where we have seen and heard them express themselves fluently. In teaching or the field of education also, some of these men have made perfect teachers to us in the subjects of English and Literature. We also get to see them in movies, do their thing very well and communicating ideas so fluently that it can be quite shameful generalizing the male species as having poor verbal skills. It however could be true, but the case does not apply to all of them. Sports, specifically athletics, has for a long tome been a black thing. Kenyan athletics have for instance excelled very many times in the athletics sector and this we cannot dispute. Despite the fact that Blacks are always at the top of the game as far as athletics is concerned, it is crucial noting that some whites have equally proven to us that they cannot be left behind in this field. In this case therefore, it would be wrong to make an assumption that blacks are the only better in the field, but right to note that the blacks dominate the success in the athletics sport. Something that needs to get clear here is that stereotype threats reduce ones performance by creating great worries in an individual, thereby threatening their performance or progress in the specific fields. It is true to say that in as much as stereotype threats have a negative effect on the performance of an individual or certain groups of people, learning is also paralyzed as a result. This was made clear through the research carried out by (Rydell, Rydell and Boucher 883-896), where they studied some group of women exposed to the stereotype that women are poor in mathematics and another with no such exposure. The results of this study showed that those females not exposed to the stereotype had their ability to learn the subject accelerated as compared to the exposed. This is therefore meant to communicate to us that whenever groups of people, in this case gender groups are exposed to these stereotypes, learning a particular subject or thing becomes difficult as compared to when not exposed. This in case of the latter means that there are no worries in these females and therefore are able to learn with a clear mind. When exposed to the stereotype threat one tends to regulate it by getting keener on the threats they are exposed to. For instance, according to a study carried out by (Seibt and Foster 38-56) on men as far as their verbal skills are concerned, they discovered that in an instance where they were exposed to the stereotypes, their performance or learning became better than without the exposure. The exposure to this threat happened after they were informed that women are better the men in verbal skills. It is the threat that had them become more cautious in order to ensure the effects become a bit desirable. This therefore is to mean that stereotype threats can either bring about positive or negative effects, depending on how one perceives them. Social identity, when faced with social identity threats, create a situation where individuals belonging to a particular group choose to move out and join other groups where they deem safer. As some members of the group decide to move away, some seek means to change the existing perceptions of the group in order to keep it on its feet again. This is though making sure that rivals are eliminated or dealt with so that the earlier on existing superiority of the group gets reborn. Making a decision to remain in a particular group when it experiences threat has much to do with how dedicated an individual is to their group and identity. It therefore is clear of one’s membership whenever one stays or leaves a group due to a sudden threat. When faced with stereotype threats, individuals will always find a way to have these stereotypes suppressed and forget about them so that they do not get anxious for nothing. It all has to do with an individual realizing their sense of importance and therefore being able to handle whatever experiences that might be stressful with a smile. In that case, therefore, you find that women will no longer have their performance in mathematics affected by the stereotype that they are weaker in mathematics as compared to their male counterparts. It is possible that stereotypic threats can get completely dealt with, which is through finding out the similarities between two gender groups. If men realize the similarities they have with females, it is possible that gender stereotypes will get minimized. That way, there would be no cases as the performance of women in mathematics getting affected by the stereotype that they are weaker than men in the subject. In relation to what the categorization theory says, immediately men and women realize the many characteristics they have in common, there will be no fear of experiencing threats as a result of stereotyping as the two group’s abilities will no longer be judged on the basis of gender. Still on the gender issue, it actually works out when women are assured that the stereotypes surrounding them are invalid. With this ideas in mind, they learn never to blame their performance, especially in mathematics on their individual incapability. This is a greater way therefore to deal with the stereotype threat existing and the anxiety as a result and an improvement in the subject gradually. This can equally be resolved through discussing the issue of gender stereotyping in groups where their resultant findings can be strongly marked as compared to if it were done individually; more views are also uncovered and these stereotypes fortified in the process. Ones identification with a particular group, for instance the gender group, is what highly contributes to these stereotype threats. Existing in a gender group where females are considered to have a lower capability to perform in the mathematics subject is what drowns the ability of women in the subject. If they however choose not to be part of the gender group and identify with it, then it would cause no harm to them to the extent of affecting their performance whenever it gets mentioned that women’s ability to perform well in mathematics is poor as compared to that of their counterparts. Upon exposure to social identity threat or stereotype threat, their ability to keep working as earlier on goes down, as well as their working memory. The ego of the affected individuals, women in this case goes down and this ends up affecting their performance in future as well as how they conduct themselves. The two threats increase the level of anxiety of an individual and rage, which can be termed as negative responses; this is due to the fact that what they had earlier on thought of themselves no longer exists, but has instead got overcome by the worst. In such a case, one has to get stronger and cut out on the negative energy around by trying every means possible to exercise caution so that they can minimize on poor results. They can as well move their minds out of thoughts that are negative enough to negatively impact on their individual perception; and therefore avoid anger and worries. It is quite evident how greatly our identities are shaped, either positively or negatively by our culture or environment as well as gender. Gender has to a great extent been a source of the social identity threats as well as stereotype threats encountered in our daily lives in specifically areas of education and sports. Women in the field of education have been thought to possess a poor ability to tackle mathematical problems as compares to what men are capable of in the same field. This stereotype has been of negative effect to the women, whose performance in the subject has capsized due to the notion that they cannot make it in the subject. Men on the other hand, when it comes to matters verbal skills, they have been stereotyped as being poor as compared to their female counterparts. It is this idea that has contributed to poor performance in the domain, being that they are constantly reminded of their incapability in the sector. Athletics has also been considered as a black skin thing, though true because most of the champions we have in the domain are of black origin, especially Kenyan. It however does not at all mean that whites cannot perform well in the field, as we too have a history of whites excelling in the field. We equally have examined how various groups are able to deal with these threats encountered and it is clear that despite the negative effects, individuals have been able to draw their attention from the negative forces and kept improving in their specific fields. The stereotypes therefore acts as a motivating factor also. Although it is true that males are better in mathematics does not mean females cannot excel in it, the same applies to males in verbal skills in which females are considered better. The same applies to athletes, in this case, whites who equally stand an opportunity to excel in the sport. Gender stereotyping ought to cease as it only has individuals forming different perception of themselves and their abilities, which is not right. Everyone has a chance to excel and should not be pinned down In any case; as ability is in an individual, not a group. Works Cited Derks, B, M Inzlicht and S Kang. "The neuroscience of stigma and stereotype threat." 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