Stereotypes are a form of expectation born through culture, whether that be the “model minority” or its opposite. Because of who we are, we are often defined by what we look like. Analda Muy is a Hispanic college student that has to deal with the assumptions, “I’m Hispanic so I must be an illegal immigrant from Cuba or Mexico. I’m Puerto Rican so I must have friends in a gang” [2]. She goes on to address how she nulls this stereotype, but that other demographics have this problem with being boxed into a category as well. On the other end of the spectrum, Katie Zdunek, an Asian-American college student, believes the stereotypes “negate individual needs, talents, and experiences” [1]. Organizations like the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) are working towards a common goal of debunking the model minority myth [1].
Just like the students in the Rosenthal-Jacobson study, these individuals are faced with predetermined judgments that have the potential to affect performance. In the “Minority Group Status” section of the Rosenthal-Jacobson study, the more “Mexican-looking” the students, the more they benefited from favorable expectations. This may be because the “teachers’ pre-experimental expectancies of the more Mexican-looking boys’ intellectual performance was probably lowest of all” [3].
The moral of this story is to be able to defy the stereotype threat by becoming more than just what is expected and being open-minded. Rosenthal and Jacobson’s experiment provided the insight to the repercussions of simply the treatment of others, especially children.
[1] Kamal, A. (2014, October 15). Students reject the 'Model Minority Myth' Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://college.usatoday.com/2014/10/15/students-reject-the-model-minority-myth/
[2] Muy, A. (2012, June 7). Overcoming The Hispanic Stereotype. Retrieved April 22, 2015, from http://thoughtcatalog.com/analda-muy/2012/06/overcoming-the-hispanic-stereotype/
[3] Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968, September). Pygmalion In The Classroom. The Urban Review, 16-20. Retrieved April 16, 2015, from https://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/psyifp/aeechterhoff/sommersemester2012/
schluesselstudiendersozialpsychologiea/rosenthal_jacobson_pygmalionclassroom_urbrev1968.pdf
Just like the students in the Rosenthal-Jacobson study, these individuals are faced with predetermined judgments that have the potential to affect performance. In the “Minority Group Status” section of the Rosenthal-Jacobson study, the more “Mexican-looking” the students, the more they benefited from favorable expectations. This may be because the “teachers’ pre-experimental expectancies of the more Mexican-looking boys’ intellectual performance was probably lowest of all” [3].
The moral of this story is to be able to defy the stereotype threat by becoming more than just what is expected and being open-minded. Rosenthal and Jacobson’s experiment provided the insight to the repercussions of simply the treatment of others, especially children.
[1] Kamal, A. (2014, October 15). Students reject the 'Model Minority Myth' Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://college.usatoday.com/2014/10/15/students-reject-the-model-minority-myth/
[2] Muy, A. (2012, June 7). Overcoming The Hispanic Stereotype. Retrieved April 22, 2015, from http://thoughtcatalog.com/analda-muy/2012/06/overcoming-the-hispanic-stereotype/
[3] Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968, September). Pygmalion In The Classroom. The Urban Review, 16-20. Retrieved April 16, 2015, from https://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/psyifp/aeechterhoff/sommersemester2012/
schluesselstudiendersozialpsychologiea/rosenthal_jacobson_pygmalionclassroom_urbrev1968.pdf