Stereotypical Outlook

I was reading an interesting article this week about how stereotypes affect performance. The classic example given (although there were many others) was Asian women in maths tests. When reminded beforehand that Asian people tend to do well in maths tests, they achieved much better results than when they were reminded that women tend to do worse than men.

From what I understood, the point was not about the truth of the stereotype but whether it is one that is accepted at some level in the mind of the person, so I don't need telling that both of the above are controversial.

Apparently the effect is very real, and large enough that a good many researchers have spent time and effort trying to work out why it happens. The article I read leans towards the idea that a person's sense of self can be a hindrance or a help in their cognitive processes, and that group identity can be a part of that. If one considers oneself part of a particular group, and knows that the group has particular strengths and weaknesses, then being aware of that while trying to do something that is affected by one of the perceived weaknesses will set up a conflict in one's mind, and dealing with that conflict takes energy and resources away from the job in hand. By contrast, if one knows that the job fits with a perceived strength, then there will be added motivation and a "sense of flow" for the task which will aid accomplishment.

It sounds reasonable to me, anyway.

The concept immediately made me think of the troubles I've been having myself. At one level, I know I'm capable. At another, I know that brethren have deficiencies compared to the wider world. So I find my outlook and achievements altering depending on which aspect has my attention, and the effect is noticeably worse when I'm in situations where I feel that everything is new and that I am out of my depth, because that's when I am most conscious of the difference between my past and that of others around me. The example worrying me most is that of work - I have never worked full-time for a non-brethren company, and considering the alternative makes me very aware of my ex-brethren status. That, in turn, saps my confidence in myself.

At least it seems there is a simple solution: concentrate on other aspects. The "Asian" side of the "Asian/woman" contradiction, to go back to the original example, and the "capable" side of the "capable/ex-brethren" one. Simple, however, is not the same as easy.

I should imagine that most people who have left restrictive groups, not least the exclusive brethren, find much the same as I do, maybe in other areas. It would be interesting to know how others find it.