Reflected Appraisals and Stereotype Threat

Abstract Little empirical research has looked at the concurrent impact of role and social identity factors for individual behavior. This chapter argues that both role and social identity approaches recognize the important of perceived feedback from others as an important mechanism linking individual experience to social structure. Within role identity theory, this feedback is termed reflected appraisals, whereas within social identity theory such feedback is captured by the concept of stereotype threat. This research seeks to determine the nature of the relationship between reflected appraisals and stereotype threat among minority college students. Results suggest that reflected appraisals affect stereotype threat experiences, but there is no reciprocal effect of stereotype threat on reflected appraisals. In addition, both reflected appraisals and stereotype threat affect students' intentions to continue in a scientific career.