Cynthia Stohl and Colleagues Acknowleged with a Top Three Paper Award by the Instructional and Developmental Communication Division of the International Communication Association, May 26-30, Paris, France
M. Tindage (California State U, Northridge, CA); D. Lemus (California State U, Northridge, CA); C. Stohl (U of California - Santa Barbara, CA); A. X. Colon, A. X. (California State U, Northridge, CA):
“The Moderating Effects of Stereotype Threat Susceptibility in the Relationship between Memorable Messages and Student of Color College Success”
This study investigated how students of color susceptibility to stereotype threat moderates the association between their perception of memorable messages and their traditional learning outcomes (i.e., student communication satisfaction, student motivation, perceptions of affective learning, and perceptions of cognitive learning). Data were collected from undergraduate students (N =115) from a large west coast university. Findings indicate that the perceptions students of color have of the memorable messages they recall regarding their academic ability positively related to all four learning outcomes Specifically, perceptions of memorable message characteristics were positively related to all four learning outcomes for students who reported being highly susceptible to negative affect when completing academic tasks. However, for students who were highly susceptible to ethnic stigma consciousness, their perceptions of memorable messages were only positively related to their perceptions of cognitive learning.
Implications of this study confirm that students of color notice the messages from instructors and respond to them emotionally and psychologically. Future research should explore memorable messages as a tool to overcome stereotype threats and improve academic performance.