ReducingStereotypeThreat.org

Keller & Dauenheimer, 2003

This study examined emotional responses following performance on a math task as a function of stereotype threat. Male and female German high school students completed a difficult math task under one of two conditions. Whereas half of the students were told that the task tends to produce gender differences with men outperforming women (stereotype threat for women), the other half were told that there were no gender differences on the task (control). Consistent with previous stereotype threat findings, boys and girls performed equivalently when gender differences were not mentioned, but girls performed worse than boys under stereotype threat. Girls under stereotype threat were more likely to show evidence of dejection following performance (i.e., endorse emotional terms "disappointed," "frustrated," and "sad"), and those emotions predicted performance on the test. Stereotype threat did not affect perceived performance, however, suggesting that emotions produced rather than resulted from poor performance.