Social Psychology Special Issue

Book reviews
to change this. Importantly, this book documents
strategies to alleviate the experiences
of stereotype threat for those targeted by
them. For example, Steele focuses on interventions
such as self-affirmation and
‘multiple social identities’ which teach individuals
to reflect on their most positive characteristics
and how these attributes are
related to a positive social identity. Moreover,
he suggests that enhancing people’s ‘identity-consciousness’
by educating them about
the consequences of negative stereotypes
and their malleable nature may offer a practical
means of reducing stereotype threat
effects. As such, a central policy implication
of this research is that, if we don’t make
people feel comfortable in their surroundings,
and if we don’t break down these negative
identity contingencies, then we won’t
succeed in reducing group achievement
gaps and contributing to an equal society.
This is where the practical implications of
Whistling Vivaldi lie. That is, if our behaviour
can be influenced by society, and if these
effects are not the inevitable outcome of
inherent differences between individuals,
then we have the power to overcome these
effects and shape social policies and practices.
Steele masterfully reflects on the
improvements to Western societies, stating:
‘When I look over my life as an African
American, I see improvements in the contingencies
attached to that identity. The swimming
pool restrictions of my youth are gone’
(p.212). Yet, Steele suggests that although
our attitudes are improving, we still have a
long way to go.
Overall, this book makes a statement
about the importance of social psychology
and contributes to our understanding of
how our social world, implicitly and explicitly,
affects both individual and group behaviour.
It is an accessible and page-turning
account that pinpoints the importance of
acknowledging how identity contingencies
can threaten our personal progress. Furthermore,
it highlights how combating these
contingencies can improve pressing issues
such as academic achievement and group
relations, and contribute to societal
progress. This book presents the research
journey that Claude Steele and his
colleagues went on, and the mountain they
climbed, to reflect on the following conviction:
An equality driven dream should be the
founding dream of every society.
Correspondence
Charlotte R. Pennington
PhD Candidate,
Department of Psychology,
Edge Hill University.
Email: penninc@edgehill.ac.uk
Tweet: @cpennington92
Reference
Fiske, S.T. (2003). The discomfort index: How to spot a really
good idea whose time has come. Psychological Inquiry, 14,
203–208.
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