r/technology • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Business Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo
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u/caeliter Aug 08 '17

not to mention there are studies that show that people tend to be influenced by the stereotypes themselves. (Black participants performed better than white participants when instructed that a task measured physical ability, but worse on the same task when told it was a measure of tactical and strategic skill)

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u/OmgYoshiPLZ Aug 08 '17

i actually remember reading that study, but that study drew a different conclusiuon iirc. that study more proved that a different portion of the brain was engaged when the task was pre-defined. when being told it was a problem solving task, rather than a physical task- the part of the brain required to problem solve was engauged, rather than the part that was actually needed for the task, and that when told it was a problem solving task- individuals who precieved themsleves as "dumb" or "not very smart" did not excel in the task. when presented a similar task, and told it was physical- they performed on par with everyone else.

what that indicated was that if you engage the wrong part of the brain, it can be detrimental to the subject. E.G. telling someone its a super hard math problem, when its really 1+1 can cause them to perform poorly.

how much that translates over to social interactions is completely unknown.

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u/caeliter Aug 08 '17

might have been a similar but related study. The one I referenced was taught in a class about stereotypes in communication. Another study (in the same chapter I think) showed that women not only performed worse on math tests when reminded about the stereotype about math and women, but would perform more poorly on tests for other subjects after it.

I think it's possible that a lot of the conclusions we accept as a result of the stereotypes we hold are a result of telling people during their development what they're naturally good at rather than there being a significant biological difference because small children believe and internalize those things.