Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Status and Performance on Mental Ability Tests

SES-1029741 Barry MarkovskyJennifer McLeer南卡罗来纳大学先前的研究结果表明，弱势群体成员的智力测试成绩受到他们在测试情境中的相对地位的负面影响。我们解释这一点，假设低地位的行动者放弃的好处，通常从成功的执行任务，如果他们预期，也有社会成本与成功。本文综合运用了地位特征理论、理性选择理论和前景理论，认为低地位行为者如果将高成本与高绩效联系在一起，其绩效会比期望低成本与高绩效的行为者差。这种表现不佳可能是由于以下三个因素中的任何一个：（1）失调减少，（2）害怕来自其他低地位行动者的制裁，或（3）害怕来自高地位行动者的制裁。 合作研究者将使用在南卡罗来纳州大学社会学研究实验室进行的三个实验来测试这些想法。第一个研究测试了考生的成绩是否受到上述因素的影响。第二项研究使用不同的方法来测试这些想法：直接操纵与绩效相关的成本和奖励。第三项研究扩展了其他两个测试的结果，看看是否社会成本驱动测试表现不佳的少数群体成员在同一种族和混合种族settings.Broader影响本研究有助于跨学科的文学团体有关组的差异和测试成绩。因此，研究成果将在不同领域，如心理学，教育和经济学相关。此外，本科生助理和科目的使用允许新一代的潜在学者在社会科学研究的实验方法的使用进行培训。至于未来的应用，了解社会奖励和成本的看法如何影响智力测试的表现是很重要的努力干预自然发生的状态过程。如果与地位有关的奖励和成本的看法是教育表现和成就的基础，那么打击这些看法的干预措施可以为来自不同背景的学生提供公平的竞争环境。更具体地说，这项研究的结果可以应用于教育环境，以帮助消除成就差距，不仅在心理能力测试成绩，而且在日常课堂活动。

SES-1029741Barry MarkovskyJennifer McLeerUniversity of South CarolinaPrevious findings have shown that intelligence test scores of members of disadvantaged groups are negatively affected by their relative status in test situations. We explain this by assuming that lower-status actors forego benefits that normally follow from successful performance of a task if they anticipate that there are also social costs associated with success. We use an integration of Status Characteristics Theory, Rational Choice Theory and Prospect Theory to argue that low status actors that associate higher costs with high performance will perform worse than those who expect lower costs with high performance. Such underperformance may be due to any of three factors: (1) dissonance reduction, (2) fear of sanctions from other low status actors, or (3) fear of sanctions from high status actors. The co-investigator will test these ideas using three experiments conducted at the Laboratory for Sociological Research at the University of South Carolina. The first study tests whether or not test-takers scores are affected by the above factors. The second study tests these ideas using a different method: direct manipulation of costs and rewards associated with performance. The third study extends the findings of the other two by testing to see if social costs drive test underperformance for minority group members in same-race and mixed-race settings.Broader Impacts This research contributes to a cross-disciplinary body of literature concerning group differences and test scores. Therefore, research findings will be relevant in diverse fields such as psychology, education, and economics. Additionally, the use of undergraduate assistants and subjects allows for a new generation of potential scholars to be trained in the use of experimental methods for social scientific research. As for future applications, understanding how perceptions of social rewards and costs affect intelligence test performances is important for efforts to intervene in naturally-occurring status processes. If perception of status-related rewards and costs underlie educational performance and achievement, then interventions that combat these perceptions can level the playing field for students from different backgrounds. More concretely, findings from this research may be applied to educational settings to help eliminate the achievement gap, not only in mental ability test scores, but also in daily classroom activities.