Stereotype Threat “Immunity” Among Black International Students in the United States,

Research observations show that Black immigrants to the United States (U.S.) typically experience improved social results as compared to African Americans (AA) with whom they share similar phenotypes. Do Black immigrants possess “psychological immunity” from negative stereotypes that plague many AA in the U.S.? In this study, I perform a three-way Moderated Multiple Regression (MMR) to explore the effects of stereotype threat (ST) on working memory between Black international students (BIS) and their AA counterparts at a historically Black university in the U.S.. Results reveal significantly lower scores for AA under ST who believe Whites are superior academic performers. Interestingly, BIS scored significantly higher when ST was induced, except for those that believed Blacks are superior academic performers.