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Putting the "affirm" into affirmative action: preferential selection and academic performance
R P Brown1, T Charnsangavej, K A Keough
1Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, USA. rpbrown@ou.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|November 18, 2000
Summary
Believing you were chosen for a task due to gender bias negatively impacts performance. Suspicion of affirmative action in college admissions is linked to lower GPAs, especially for minority students.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Preferential selection can influence individual performance and academic outcomes.
- Stereotype threat and perceived fairness are critical factors in academic settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of perceived preferential selection on academic performance.
- To examine the relationship between suspicion of affirmative action and college students' GPA.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Experimental manipulation of selection reasons (gender, gender & ability, random) for a problem-solving task.
- Study 2: Correlational analysis of students' suspicion of race-based preferences and their GPA, including mediation analysis.
Main Results:
- Women believing they were selected for leadership due to gender performed worse than those selected randomly or for gender and ability.
- Suspicion of race-based college admissions negatively correlated with GPA.
- Suspicion of affirmative action partially explained the GPA difference between minority and non-minority students.
Conclusions:
- Perceived gender-based selection can undermine performance, suggesting a form of stereotype threat.
- Suspicion of preferential treatment in college admissions may negatively affect academic achievement, particularly for students from historically underrepresented groups.
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