INVESTIGATING CORTISOL IN THE CLASSROOM: THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CORTISOL AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Open Access
- Author:
- Park, Hyun Joon
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- June 29, 2018
- Committee Members:
- Dr. Jonathan Cook, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Dr. Melvin Mark, Committee Member
Dr. Martha Wadsworth, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Cortisol
Academic performance
Social identity threat - Abstract:
- OBJECTIVE: Despite numerous studies suggesting the association between cortisol and cognitive performance, there has been a lack of literature investigating the association between cortisol and academic performance. Further, studies that have examined this association have mainly focused on cortisol response in a very limited setting (e.g., on the day of an examination) and have not considered potential moderators. To address this gap in the literature, using a longitudinal field research design, I investigated students’ cortisol responses and their association with academic outcomes in a challenging science gateway college class. Additionally, I investigated whether students’ cortisol response and its association with performance are moderated by race/ethnicity. METHOD: A total of 271 students who were enrolled in an Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology class participated in this study. Participants submitted two saliva samples per class across four classes (a total of eight possible samples). Participants’ exam scores and whether they dropped out of the course were collected from the instructor and official transcripts. RESULTS: Students’ cortisol levels were not elevated in classes around the exam period. Further, students’ cortisol patterns within class and across classes did not differ as a function of race/ethnicity. Averaged cortisol levels across classes did not have an association with academic outcomes. However, race/ethnicity moderated the association of cortisol with academic outcomes. Cortisol levels were positively associated with performance for negatively stereotyped students (i.e., Black, Hispanic, and Native American). There was no association between cortisol levels and performance for non-stereotyped students (i.e., White and Asian). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that cortisol may represent different psychological states and have different associations with academic performance for different racial/ethnic groups.