Citation

Rydell RJ, Van Loo KJ, Boucher KL. Person. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2014; 40(3): 377-390.

Affiliation

Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0146167213513475

PMID

24345711

Abstract

Stereotype threat research shows that women's math performance can be reduced by activating gender-based math stereotypes. Models of stereotype threat assert that threat reduces cognitive functioning, thereby accounting for its negative effects. This work provides a more detailed understanding of the cognitive processes through which stereotype threat leads women to underperform at math and to take risks, by examining which basic executive functions (inhibition, shifting, and updating) account for these outcomes. In Experiments 1 and 2, women under threat showed reduced inhibition, reduced updating, and reduced math performance compared with women in a control condition (or men); however, only updating accounted for women's poor math performance under threat. In Experiment 3, only updating accounted for stereotype threat's effect on women's math performance, whereas only inhibition accounted for the effect of threat on risk-taking, suggesting that distinct executive functions can account for different stereotype threat-related outcomes.

Language: en