9701661 Ridgeway Existing theory on group processes provides a clear description of how cultural status beliefs determine the power and prestige of actors performing collective task. Yet there has been very little theorizing and research on the role of status processes during individual tasks. This research proposes to test how status characteristics (e.g., gender) affects performance on a test. Specifically, this Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement proposal investigates whether/how the presence of same and opposite gender research subjects affects undergraduates' performance on ten questions taken from the Graduate Record Examination. Performance will be recorded for twenty subjects under each of six conditions. The conditions include: 1) male respondent believes himself to be alone; 2) female respondents believes herself to be alone; females respondent hears but does not see another respondent and is able to infer from voice that the other respondent is: 3) same sex; 4) other-sex; male respondent hears but does not see another respondent and is able to infer from voice that the other is: 5) same sex; 6) other-sex. Analysis consists of comparisons among combination of respondents in the six conditions on mean performance scores, proportion correct, and time spent on each item. This research proposes to contribute to our understanding of the relation between cultural status dimensions and goal-directed behavior, and offer insight into why particular social groups are differentially responsive to social performance cues in evaluative settings. **** ??
