Converging evidence that stereotype threat reduces working memory capacity.

2003/01/01 by Toni Schmader, Michael Johns · 5 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Gender Diversity and Inequality #Cultural Differences and Values

paper · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.440

openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/18

Abstract

Although research has shown that priming negative stereotypes leads to lower performance among stigmatized individuals, little is understood about the cognitive mechanism that accounts for these effects. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that stereotype threat interferes with test performance because it reduces individuals' working memory capacity. Results show that priming self-relevant negative stereotypes reduces women's (Experiment 1) and Latinos' (Experiment 2) working memory capacity. The final study revealed that a reduction in working memory capacity mediates the effect of stereotype threat on women's math performance (Experiment 3). Implications for future research on stereotype threat and working memory are discussed.

Citations

• Anxiety and Performance: The Processing Efficiency Theory
• Advances In Experimental Social Psychology
• The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.

Cited by

• Stereotype threat and executive resource depletion: Examining the influence of emotion regulation.
• Gender Stereotypes about Mathematics and Science and Self-Perceptions of Ability in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence
• Intelligence as a Malleable Construct
• Is agreeing with a gender stereotype correlated with the performance of\n female students in introductory physics?
• Toni Schmader [wikipedia]