Does Stereotype Threat Deteriorate Academic Performance of High School Students With Learning Disabilities? The Buffering Role of Psychological Disengagement

Abstract

The academic underperformance of high school students with learning disabilities may reduce their access to higher education and decrease their employment opportunities. Based on stereotype threat hypothesis, the present study examined the role of stereotype threat in academic performance among adolescents with learning disabilities and the moderating role of psychological disengagement in this relation. In Study 1, 120 students with learning disabilities finished the measures of stereotype threat vulnerability and psychological disengagement, and their academic score at two time points were collected. Results showed that students who are more vulnerable to stereotype threat tend to have a lower academic score at Time 2 even after controlling for academic score at Time 1, and this relation was moderated by psychological disengagement. In Study 2, 62 sophomore students with learning disabilities finished measures of stereotype threat, academic persistence, and psychological disengagement. The results showed that the effect of stereotype threat on academic persistence was significant among students who were of low psychological disengagement, while this effect was not significant among students who were psychologically disengaged in academics. These results emphasize the individual differences of learning disabled students’ response to stereotype threat and have significant implications for framing targeted interventions.