STATUS PROCESSES AND MENTAL-ABILITY TEST-SCORES

The expected consequences of a score on an ability test can constrain individual performance. The authors predict that status processes, inc luding status differences and the differences in rewards and costs tha t result, will produce differences in ability test scores between high -status and low-status individuals. In three controlled experiments, p articipants randomly assigned low status scored lower on a standard te st of mental ability (the Raven Progressive Matrices) than did partici pants assigned high status. For both men and women, the difference in ability test score between low-status and high-status participants was about half a standard deviation. The results suggest the need to acco unt for status differences in any attempt to measure mental ability ac curately.