Stereotype Threat and Psychological Wellbeing in Children of Prisoners

Stereotypes are ideas that one holds regarding individuals because of their membership to a specific group. The current research was undertaken to study stereotype perception and stereotype threat on the psychological wellbeing of children of prisoners. Eight children of prisoners in the age range of 17 to 25 (females = 4), whose fathers were in prison for more than a year, participated in the study. Semi-structured interview method was used to collect data from the participants and data were analyzed using thematic network analysis method. Results revealed that children of prisoners strongly perceive stereotypes against them and they conform to stereotypes. Further to this, it was found that stereotype threat had positive effects in terms of increased goal-directed behavior and negative effects in terms of reduced happiness and increased feelings of anger and sadness. These findings are discussed in light of previous literature on the effects of stereotypes on behavior.