Our “Did you know…” of the week

THEY’RE ALL THE SAME, a theme of the “What If I Was Wrong? When We Talk, We Learn!” awareness-raising campaign.

Did you know that a negative stereotype can create enough pressure to change a behaviour and confirm the stereotype?

In other words, if you are a girl and are told several times that girls are bad at mathematics, those comments undermine your performance on math tests. This situation, which is called a “stereotype threat,” can disrupt cognitive function and sap the stigmatized person’s interest in the subject in question[1].

Do you think a stereotype threat depends solely on the context and frequency of the stereotype? Have you heard of any similar instances around you?

We invite you to consult page 112 of the campaign’s Educator’s guide to find out how to facilitate and supervise the organization of an activity related to this theme, to enable participants to move forward in a process of self-discovery, discovery of others, and exploration of the world around them. 

Stay tuned for our next “Did you know…“!

[1] Michel DÉSERT, Jean-Claude CROIZET and Jacques-Philippe LEYENS, « La menace du stéréotype: une interaction entre situation et identité », in L’Année psychologique, vol. 102, no 3, 2002, pp. 555 576.