title: Mindful maths: reducing the impact of stereotype threat through a mindfulness exercise.
abstract: Individuals who experience stereotype threat - the pressure resulting from social comparisons that are perceived as unfavourable - show performance decrements across a wide range of tasks. One account of this effect is that the cognitive pressure triggered by such threat drains the same cognitive (or working-memory) resources that are implicated in the respective task. The present study investigates whether mindfulness can be used to moderate stereotype threat, as mindfulness has previously been shown to alleviate working-memory load. Our results show that performance decrements that typically occur under stereotype threat can indeed be reversed when the individual engages in a brief (5 min) mindfulness task. The theoretical implications of our findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Social Climate, University of Kent, Canterbury CT27NP, United Kingdom. U.Weger@kent.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ulrich W
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Weger
authors.forename: Nic
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.forename: Brian P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hopthrow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D026441:Mind-Body Therapies; D012649:Self Concept; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom