PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Research Article AND HIGH : The Role of Threat Jim Blascovich,1 Steven J. Spencer,2 Diane Quinn,3 and Claude Steele4 1University of California, Santa Barbara; 2University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; 3University of Connecticut; and 4Stanford University

Abstract—We examined the effect of on blood pres- Goldstein, & Armstrong, 1989). Second, repressing anger and anger- sure reactivity. Compared with European Americans, and African provoking manipulations, particularly ones in which racism provokes Americans under little or no stereotype threat, African Americans un- the anger, do produce greater cardiovascular reactivity among African der stereotype threat exhibited larger increases in mean arterial blood Americans compared with European Americans (Armstead, Lawler, pressure during an academic test, and performed more poorly on diffi- Gorden, Cross, & Gibbons, 1989; Harburg, Blakelock, & Roper, 1979; cult test items. We discuss the significance of these findings for under- Johnson, 1989; Johnson, Schork, & Spielberger, 1987). Third, John standing the incidence of among African Americans. Henryism, or the tendency to work extremely hard while not giving up on difficult and demanding tasks, has been strongly associated with hypertension in African Americans but not in European Americans Many studies have demonstrated that African Americans have a (James, Hartnett, & Kalsbeek, 1983; James, LaCroix, Kleinbaum, & higher incidence of high blood pressure, or hypertension, than Euro- Strogatz, 1984; James, Strogatz, Wing, & Ramsey, 1987). pean Americans (for reviews, see Anderson, 1989; Folkow, 1982; Because African Americans face more situations in which they are Obrist, 1981). Some researchers have argued that genetic factors ex- stereotyped by others and consequently face a relatively high level of ste- plain the higher incidence (Rotimi, Cooper, Cao, Sundarum, & Mc- reotype threat, a rare experience for European Americans, their compara- Gee, 1994). Others have argued that social environmental factors tively high chronic blood pressure levels may stem, at least in part, from explain the higher incidence; specifically, they have claimed that Afri- these multiple episodes of stereotype threat. Repeated episodes of acute can Americans experience stressful episodes more chronically than blood pressure increases are thought to lead to chronically high blood European Americans, which leads in turn to the observed racial differ- pressure levels, or hypertension. Anderson et al. (1993) and Clark et al. ences in hypertension (Anderson, McNeilly, & Myers, 1993; Clark, (1999) have proposed mechanisms for this pathophysiological process. Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999). To test this reasoning more directly, we examined mean arterial blood In the experiment we report here, we tested the latter notion by ex- pressure (MAP) responses of African and European Americans in situa- amining a specific type of stressor, stereotype threat, which may affect tions in which the saliency of stereotype threat for African Americans African Americans’ hemodynamic reactivity. Steele and his col- was varied. We hypothesized an interaction between stereotype threat and leagues (Aronson, Quinn, & Spencer, 1998; Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, race such that when stereotype threat was relatively high, African Ameri- 1999; Steele, 1997; Steele & Aronson, 1995; Steele, Spencer, & Aron- cans would have higher blood pressure levels than European Americans, son, in press) have presented a framework for understanding how ste- but when stereotype threat was low, no racial differences would occur. reotypes affect members of stereotyped groups. According to this framework, members of such groups experience stereotype threat when they are in situations in which other people may view them ste- METHOD reotypically in ways likely to increase performance pressures (i.e., ). Research has shown that members of stereotyped groups (Af- Participants rican Americans; Latinos; people of low socioeconomic status; women, in certain domains such as mathematics) perform more poorly Forty-one university students volunteered to participate in the on standardized tests, particularly on difficult items, than their nonste- study and received $20 for participation. The data of 2 participants reotyped counterparts when stereotype threat is high. However, no were completely unusable because of mechanical difficulties with the such performance differences emerge when stereotype threat is low physiological recording equipment, leaving 20 African-American and (Croizet & Claire, 1998; Spencer et al., 1999; Steele, 1997; Steele & 19 European-American participants in the study. Aronson, 1995). In the current experiment, we tested the hypothesis that increased blood pressure accompanies the stress or threat induced Setting and Apparatus by stereotype threat among African Americans. Three lines of evidence converge to suggest that being subject to The experiment took place in the recording chamber of a social repeated episodes of stress may play an important role in the higher psychophysiology laboratory. The chamber contained an unobtrusive incidence of hypertension among African Americans. First, family video camera and intercom system for monitoring participants’ well- history of hypertension does not appear to predict greater cardiovascu- being throughout the experiment, as well as video monitors and audio lar reactivity among African Americans, unlike European Americans speakers for the presentation of instructions and stimuli. Participants (Anderson et al., 1986; Clark et al., 1999; Falkner, Kushner, Khalsa, were seated comfortably throughout the experiment. Canessa, & Katz, 1986; Johnson, 1989; Morrell, Myers, Shapiro, Measures Address correspondence to Jim Blascovich, Department of , The numbers of correct test items for the two tasks (described in University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. the Procedure section) constituted the performance measure.

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We recorded MAP continuously using a Cortronics (Model 5000) structions to sit and rest (Minute 12), rested for another 5-min period automated blood pressure device and stored these data digitally on a (Minutes 13Ð17), received instructions for the second task (Minute laboratory computer. Larsen, Schneiderman, and Pasin (1986) argued 18), and subsequently spent another 5 min on the second RAT task that MAP is preferable to either systolic or diastolic blood pressure (Minutes 19Ð23). Afterward, the experimenter met with the participant measurements, especially with regard to its relationship to hypertension. to go over a detailed debriefing (and probe for suspicion).

Procedure RESULTS When participants arrived at the lab, they were met by a female Performance on the RAT research assistant of their own race. Before they entered the experi- mental chamber, the assistant explained that the study was about phys- We conducted a three-factor analysis of variance to test for perfor- iological responses to cognitive tasks. mance differences using the number of correctly answered RAT items Once the experimenter had calibrated the physiological equipment, as the dependent measure. The two between-subjects factors were race participants heard audiotaped instructions simply to relax for a 5-min (African or European American) and stereotype-threat condition (high rest period. This period provided the baseline for subsequent MAP or low). The within-subjects factor was level of item difficulty (high, changes (i.e., MAP reactivity). Following the baseline period, partici- moderate, or low). This analysis revealed only a main effect for item pants received instructions (via videotape) for the stereotype-threat difficulty, F(2, 74) ϭ 50.77, p Ͻ .001, with significantly poorer per- condition (i.e., the experimental manipulation) to which they had been formance on the difficult items (M ϭ 1.17 correct) than the moderate randomly assigned. In the high-stereotype-threat condition, partici- items (M ϭ 2.12 correct), F(2, 80) ϭ 14.61, p Ͻ .001, and signifi- pants saw a European-American man who introduced himself as a cantly poorer performance on the moderate than the easy items (M ϭ professor from Stanford University. He briefly discussed the recent de- 3.68 correct), F(2, 80) ϭ 39.33, p Ͻ .001. bate regarding the use of standardized tests (i.e., whether they are bi- Because previous stereotype-threat research has shown that perfor- ased toward particular subcultural groups) and explained that mance detriments on standardized tests emerge only on difficult prob- researchers at Princeton University, Stanford, and the University of lems (Spencer et al., 1999; Steele, 1997; Steele et al., in press), we Michigan had developed a new test of intelligence that the participants performed a priori contrasts comparing the performance of African would soon take. The participants were told they were taking the test Americans in the high-stereotype-threat condition with the perfor- to help the test developers achieve a nationally representative sample. mance of the other three groups (African Americans in the low-stereo- In the low-stereotype-threat condition, participants saw an African type-threat condition, European Americans in both stereotype-threat American who also introduced himself as a professor from Stanford. conditions) on the difficult, moderate, and easy RAT items. As pre- He also noted the debate about the use of standardized tests. He went dicted, African Americans in the high-stereotype-threat condition per- on to say that researchers at Tulane University, Howard University, formed significantly more poorly (M ϭ 0.73) on the difficult items and the University of Michigan had developed the test the participants than the other three groups (Ms ϭ 1.2 for African Americans in the would take, and that the test was the first step in an attempt to develop low-stereotype-threat condition and 1.4 for European Americans in a culturally unbiased test. He further indicated that earlier studies us- each stereotype-threat condition), t(37) ϭ 1.78, p Ͻ .05; there were no ing this test at other colleges and universities had found that the test significant differences on the moderate or easy items (ts Ͻ 1). was unbiased—that black and white college students had performed equally well—and that the test was currently being given as part of a Physiological Responses project to demonstrate the fairness of the test. After participants viewed the condition-relevant videotape, they Baseline and reactivity scores listened to audiotaped instructions explaining the “verbal ability sub- test” and saw several example problems and answers on a video moni- We calculated mean baseline MAP values across heart beat cycles tor. The test was actually a version of the Remote Associates Test for each of the last 3 min of the baseline period, the full 5 min of the (RAT; McFarlin & Blascovich, 1984). Each item on the RAT consists first RAT task (Minutes 7Ð11), the intervening rest period (Minutes 13Ð 1 of three words (e.g., “mouse, sharp, and blue”), and participants are 17), and the second RAT task (Minutes 19Ð23). We tested for group instructed to generate a fourth word related to all three (in this case, differences in baseline physiological responses by conducting a mixed the correct answer is “cheese”). So that participants’ performance model analysis of variance on the final 3 min of baseline MAP with would be somewhat ambiguous, we used a mix of difficult, moderate, minute of the experiment as the within-participants factor and race and and easy RAT items (McFarlin & Blascovich, 1984). Participants were stereotype-threat condition as the between-participants factors. No Ͻ told they would see each item on the computer screen in front of them significant main effects or interactions emerged, Fs 1.1. For the and would have 30 s to provide an answer. They performed two 10- subsequent analyses, we computed MAP reactivity scores by subtract- item RAT tasks. ing each participant’s mean baseline value from the MAP value for The timeline of the procedure was as follows. First, the experi- each minute of the two task periods and the intervening rest period. menter attached the Cortronics blood pressure cuff to the participant’s arm and initiated the automated self-calibration process of the system. Next, the experimenter left the recording chamber. Subsequently, the 1. We omitted Minutes 12 and 18 from all analyses as they represented participant sat and relaxed for 5 min while baseline mean MAP values transition minutes between the first task and rest and between rest and the sec- were recorded (Minutes 1Ð5). Participants then received the manipula- ond task, respectively. If data for these minutes are included in the analysis and tion and instructions (Minute 6) and subsequently spent 5 min on the all data are collapsed across postbaseline minutes, the results are unchanged first RAT task (30 s per item; Minutes 7Ð11). They then received in- from those reported.

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Fig. 1. Covariance-adjusted mean arterial blood pressure reactivity by race, stereotype-threat condition, and post- baseline minute.

Differences during the experimental phase cantly greater for this condition than for the other three conditions, F(1, 32) ϭ 5.57, p Ͻ .03, which did not differ significantly from each In order to identify significant race and stereotype-threat effects or other. interactions during the experimental (i.e., postbaseline) phase of the In order to further examine the nature of the race-by-condition in- experiment, we conducted a fixed-effects analysis of covariance teraction, we divided the experimental phase into its three major com- (ANCOVA) with race and stereotype threat as the between-partici- ponents: first RAT task, intervening rest period, and second RAT task, pants factors, using the average MAP reactivity score across the 15 performing a separate analysis for each one. task and resting minutes of the experimental period (i.e., during the first task, during the intervening rest period, and during the second First RAT task task). Baseline MAP scores were used as covariates to control further 2 for relative baseline levels. This analysis revealed no main effects for We analyzed MAP reactivity scores during the 5 min of the first race or stereotype-threat condition (ps Ͼ .26). However, a significant task conducting a mixed-model ANCOVA with minute as a within- race-by-stereotype-threat interaction occurred, F(1, 31) ϭ 6.15, p Ͻ participants factor and race and stereotype-threat condition as the be- 3 .02. As Figure 1 illustrates, greater MAP reactivity for African Amer- tween-participants factors, using mean baseline MAP values as cova- icans in the high-stereotype-threat condition drove this interaction. riates to further control for baseline levels.4 Neither the main effects MAP reactivity was significantly greater than zero only in this condi- for race and stereotype-threat condition nor the race-by-stereotype- tion, F(1, 35) ϭ 16.18, p Ͻ .001, and MAP reactivity was signifi- threat-condition interaction was significant ( p Ͼ .5). The main effect for time was significant, F(4, 140) ϭ 3.36, p Ͻ .02, and the interaction of race, stereotype-threat condition, and time was significant, F(4, 140) ϭ Ͻ 2. We repeated all the analyses of MAP described in this report using over- 3.28, p .04. As the mean MAP reactivity scores for Minutes 7 all performance score and performance on difficult items as covariates to rule out any possible confounds of performance with stereotype-threat condition and race. Neither performance score was a significant covariate in any of these analyses (all but one F Ͻ 1), and these covariates did not change the pattern or 4. The F ratios for the mixed-model designs throughout this article are re- statistical significance of any of the results. ported using the Geisser-Greenhouse adjusted F test. This test adjusts for the 3. The means in Figure 1 and throughout the rest of this article are adjusted fact that the circularity assumption may not be met in a repeated measures de- means controlling for baseline MAP. sign. See Kirk (1982, p. 261) for a discussion of this procedure.

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through 11 in Figure 1 indicate, African Americans in the high-stereo- DISCUSSION type-threat condition experienced the highest level of MAP for any We found that African Americans open to stereotype threat on a condition or minute during Minute 9. Post hoc comparisons indicated cognitive task exhibited greater blood pressure increases than Euro- that MAP reactivity was significantly greater than zero for African pean Americans, and this relatively heightened blood pressure contin- Americans in this condition, F(1, 38) ϭ 8.02, p Ͻ .01, whereas reac- ued even during a 5-min rest period and through another task. In tivity in the other conditions did not differ from zero during this contrast, when stereotype threat was low, African Americans did not minute. Similarly, MAP reactivity was marginally greater for African have greater blood pressure increases than European Americans. Fur- Americans in the high-stereotype-threat condition than in the other thermore, although African Americans predictably performed more three conditions during Minute 10, F(1, 35) ϭ 3.46, p ϭ .07. MAP re- poorly on difficult RAT items, performance effects cannot account for activity for European Americans in the low-stereotype-threat condi- the blood pressure differences (as indicated by the fact that including tion was significantly less than zero during Minute 7, F(1, 38) ϭ 14.2, performance as a covariate in the analyses did not change the results). p Ͻ .001, but only for this, the first minute of the first task. These results suggest that stereotype threat may play an important role in the incidence of hypertension among African Americans. It Intervening rest period seems likely that African Americans encounter more situations in which they face stereotyping than European Americans. If one can Similarly, we analyzed MAP reactivity scores during the 5 min of generalize our findings to real-life situations, then increased exposure the intervening rest period conducting a mixed-model ANCOVA with to situations that provoke stereotype threat might well result in African minute as a within-participants factor and race and stereotype-threat Americans experiencing many more situations (compared with Euro- condition as the between-participants factors. Again, we used mean pean Americans) in which their blood pressure is elevated. Over time, baseline MAP values as covariates. The main effects for race and ste- these individual incidents might lead to more chronic changes that reotype-threat condition did not reach significance (ps Ͼ .35). How- could lead to hypertension (see Anderson et al., 1993; Clark et al., ever, the race-by-stereotype-threat-condition interaction did reach 1999). significance, F(1, 32) ϭ 4.16, p Ͻ .05. In addition, the main effect for One should note, however, that the current results are merely sug- time was significant, F(4, 132) ϭ 3.22, p Ͻ .02, but time did not inter- gestive, and their implications for hypertension are likely to be com- act significantly with the other variables. As Figure 1 illustrates, the plicated for at least two reasons. First, in this study, we demonstrated significant interaction was due in part to substantially higher MAP only that African Americans open to high stereotype threat had in- levels in the African-American, high-stereotype-threat condition com- creased blood pressure over the course of a 20-min period. The long-term pared with all other conditions during Minutes 13 through 17. MAP consequences of such increases in blood pressure were not examined. reactivity was significantly greater than zero only in this condition, In addition, the biological mechanisms by which these acute increases F(1, 37) ϭ 16.86, p Ͻ .001, and MAP reactivity was significantly in blood pressure would lead to chronic hypertension (see Anderson et greater in this condition than in the other three conditions, F(1, 34) ϭ al., 1993; Clark et al., 1999) were not examined. 9.82, p Ͻ .01. Interestingly, MAP reactivity was marginally less than Second, we did not examine the generalizability of the results to zero in the European-American, high-stereotype-threat condition, other situations or other groups of participants. Here, we examined F(1, 37) ϭ 3.98, p ϭ .051. African-American college students taking an intellectual test. Other participant populations (perhaps those less concerned with their per- Second RAT task formance on an intellectual test) or these same participants on other tasks (perhaps tasks in which important identities are not at stake) may Finally, we analyzed MAP reactivity scores during the 5 min of the not experience increased blood pressure in response to stereotype second RAT task, again conducting a mixed-model ANCOVA with threat. This possibility, which is consistent with previous work on ste- minute as a within-participants factor and race and stereotype-threat reotype threat (Spencer et al., 1999; Steele, 1997; Steele & Aronson, condition as the between-participants factors, and using mean baseline 1995; Steele et al., in press), means that the link between stereotype MAP values as covariates to further control for baseline levels. Nei- threat and hypertension may be more complicated than the current ther the main effects for race and condition nor the race-by-stereotype- study suggests. threat-condition interaction reached significance (ps Ͼ .18). The main Despite these qualifications, we believe the results of this study effect for time was significant, F(4, 124) ϭ 3.57, p Ͻ .01, but time did provide an interesting account of how stress might play an important not interact significantly with the other variables (ps Ͼ .44). role in the relatively high incidence of hypertension in African Ameri- Because there were no interactions with time and because we could cans. If this account is correct, then simple stress among African gain statistical power by including participants for whom there were Americans does not contribute to the development of hypertension in missing data from some of the minutes in the mixed-model ANCOVA, African Americans as much as does a particular type of stress—being we collapsed across time and ran a fixed-model ANCOVA with race in a situation in which one desires positive evaluation but faces the and stereotype-threat condition as between-participants factors and possibility of being evaluated stereotypically in a negative way. We baseline MAP values as covariates. The race-by-stereotype-threat-con- believe the current results warrant further investigation of this idea. dition interaction was significant in this analysis, F(1, 29) ϭ 5.42, p Ͻ .05. As the mean MAP reactivity scores for Minutes 19 through 23 in Figure 1 indicate, African Americans in the high-stereotype-threat con- Acknowledgments—This research was supported in part by National Science dition experienced the largest increases in MAP. MAP reactivity was Foundation Award SBR9596222 to the first author, by a grant from the Na- significantly greater than zero only in this condition, F(1, 35) ϭ 22.91, tional Institute of Mental Health to the fourth and first authors, and by a grant p Ͻ .001, and MAP reactivity was significantly greater in this condi- from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the second author. tion than in the other three conditions, F(1, 32) ϭ 6.44, p Ͻ .02.

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