Cb. Mcaninch et al., EFFECTS OF AN ACADEMIC EXPECTANCY AND GENDER ON STUDENTS INTERACTIONS, The Journal of educational research, 89(3), 1996, pp. 146-153
Expectancies regarding academic performance were manipulated in unacqu
ainted peers to determine their effect on children's subsequent dyadic
interaction. Eighteen male and 17 female dyads aged 7 to 12 performed
two tasks together and then separately completed questionnaires about
their impressions of each other. One member of each dyad was led to b
elieve that his or her partner was either smart or not smart. Results
showed that the manipulation directly affected the children given the
expectancy, in that perceivers in the ''smart'' expectancy condition f
elt that the targets were smarter and that they worked together better
than did perceivers in the ''not smart'' condition. Perceivers in the
''not smart'' condition were more controlling in the interaction. The
expectancy also impacted on the target subjects, who deferred more to
the perceivers (i.e., asked more questions and agreed more) in the ''
not smart'' than in the ''smart'' expectancy condition. Gender had a n
egligible influence because boys and girls did not respond differentia
lly to the expectancy manipulations.