Cuing Disparities: The Consequences of Race-Based Social Stressors for Academic Achievement

Underrepresented racially and ethnically minoritized (URM) students contend with individual-level race-based stressors in college, like racialized discrimination and microaggressions. In this study, we consider whether URM students\u27 perceptions of racial inequity on campus—a context-level race-based stressor—trigger adverse psychological and physical stress responses that, in turn, undermine academic achievement. Using a sample of 781 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students, we found in a longitudinal study that URM students report perceiving more inequality on campus compared with White and Asian students. Greater perceived inequality was, in turn, associated with increased psychological and physical stress responses, which, in some cases, predicted lower grades. Promoting more equitable college environments, therefore, may help attenuate inequalities in stress responses, ultimately, enhancing academic achievement. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article\u27s Community and Social Impact Statement

White Fragility: An Emotion Regulation Perspective

To address anti-Black racism, systemic change across many domains in American life will be necessary. There are many barriers to change, however, and progress requires identifying these barriers and developing tools to overcome them. Given that White individuals disproportionately occupy ‘gatekeeping’ positions of power, one key barrier to systemic change is rooted in White individuals’ emotional (and emotion-regulatory) responses when considering their own role in racism (e.g., involvement in racist systems, biased actions). White people often experience such moments as a jeopardy to their valued goals and are consequently highly motivated to reduce the distress they feel by denying or avoiding the issue – a multi-faceted response known as a White fragility response. When White individuals enact a White fragility response, they can further damage the well-being of Black members of their community and weaken their own motivation for systemic change. Given its stark costs, it is critical to understand White fragility responses. In this article, we argue that White fragility can be usefully viewed through the lens of emotion and emotion regulation theory. In particular, we describe the emotion and emotion regulation responses that characterize White fragility, summarize the wide-ranging consequences of White fragility responses, highlight more sustainable ways forward, and end by considering a broader fragility framework that acknowledges multiple dimensions of power. Although emotion regulation lies at the heart of White fragility, emotion regulation is also a tool that can be leveraged for greater justice

Learning Goals Mitigate Identity Threat for Black Individuals in Threatening Interracial Interactions

Data and syntax for our (DJG, DAW, and MCM) forthcoming CDP article, "Learning Goals Mitigate Identity Threat for Black Individuals in Threatening Interracial Interactions

I Have to Praise You Like I Should

Data, materials, analysis files, and supplemental information for "The Influence of Automated Praise on Behavior and Perfomance," published in Technology, Mind, and Behavior

Managing Emotions in the Face of Discrimination: The Differential Effects of Self-Immersion, Self-Distanced Reappraisal, and Positive Reappraisal

Contending with sexism is associated with negative affective outcomes, including increased anger, anxiety, and depression. Research largely outside of the discrimination domain suggests that emotion regulation strategies, such as reappraisal, can help people manage their emotions after stressful events, attenuating the associated negative affect. Perhaps, these emotion regulation strategies may also be effective in the face of discrimination experiences. The present research examines whether self-distanced reappraisal (Studies 1a & 1b) and positive reappraisal (Study 2) when contending with sexism yield more positive and less negative affective outcomes relative to self-immersion. Contrary to previous research, we find limited support for self- distanced reappraisal as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy for women contending with sexism. Results revealed, however, that positive reappraisal, compared to either self-immersion or self-distanced reappraisal, may be a promising emotion regulation strategy that reduces the affective consequences of sexism. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the efficacy of different emotion regulation strategies in the context of discrimination

The Influence of Automated Praise on Behavior and Performance

To be successful in college, students need to turn in their coursework, and a known strategy for improving submission rates is to present positive feedback when students turn in their assignments. In the current study, we test competing theoretical approaches to positive feedback in a large scale field experiment (n=1,766). Using a mobile app, we assigned college students to receive occasional notifications immediately upon submitting online assignments that either praised them for having submitted their coursework, or that highlighted the value of submitting coursework for academic success, or to a no-treatment control group. We find that only praise messages improved submission rates and course performance, suggesting that drawing attention to the feedback-eliciting task is necessary and sufficient for facilitating change at scale

STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes

An important goal of the scientific community is broadening the achievement and participation of racial minorities in STEM fields. Yet, professors’ beliefs about the fixedness of ability may be an unwitting and overlooked barrier for stigmatized students. Results from a longitudinal university-wide sample (150 STEM professors and more than 15,000 students) revealed that the racial achievement gaps in courses taught by more fixed mindset faculty were twice as large as the achievement gaps in courses taught by more growth mindset faculty. Course evaluations revealed that students were demotivated and had more negative experiences in classes taught by fixed (versus growth) mindset faculty. Faculty mindset beliefs predicted student achievement and motivation above and beyond any other faculty characteristic, including their gender, race/ethnicity, age, teaching experience, or tenure status. These findings suggest that faculty mindset beliefs have important implications for the classroom experiences and achievement of underrepresented minority students in STEM

Anti-Racist Actions and Accountability: Not More Empty Promises

[Excerpt] The current piece summarizes five critical points about racism from the point of view of Black scholars and allies: (1) Black people are experiencing exhaustion from and physiological effects of racism, (2) racism extends far beyond police brutality and into most societal structures, (3) despite being the targets of racism, Black people are often blamed for their oppression and retaliated against for their response to it, (4) everyone must improve their awareness and knowledge (through both formal education and individual motivation) to fight racism and (5) anti-racist policies and accountability are key to enact structural reformation