Theories and Concepts
Stereotype Threat Theory
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Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson demonstrated stereotype threat in 1995 using standardized test performance, and the theory has since become one of the most cited, and most contested, findings in social psychology, caught up directly in the field's own replication crisis.
Facts
Disputed
Core ClaimPeople aware of a negative stereotype about a group they belong to can underperform on a task where that stereotype is relevant, because anxiety over possibly confirming the stereotype consumes working memory that would otherwise support performance. 1 A 2019 meta-analysis restricting itself to studies using subtle stereotype manipulations found the effect size shrank to small or negligible, and Sackett and colleagues note a large achievement gap remained even under Steele and Aronson's own mitigated testing conditions; other meta-analyses report the effect holds up. Whether the original, larger effect size reflects publication bias rather than the phenomenon itself is a live methodological dispute, not a settled question. Cross-Tradition Connections
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One of the field's own examples of a widely cited effect whose original size is now disputed.
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Stereotype Threat
Wikimedia FoundationCriticism and replicationQuote, Criticism and replication
Two replications of this result have been attempted. In one case, the effect was only reproduced after excluding participants who were unaware of stereotypes about the mathematical abilities of Asians or women, while the other replication failed to reproduce the original results even considering several moderating variables.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Core Claim
A 2019 meta-analysis restricting itself to studies using subtle, less blatant stereotype manipulations found the effect size shrank to small or negligible, and Paul Sackett and colleagues note that even in Steele and Aronson's own mitigated testing conditions, an achievement gap of roughly one standard deviation remained unexplained by stereotype threat alone, suggesting the effect does not account for as much of real-world performance gaps as often assumed; other meta-analyses and systematic reviews report the effect holds up under broader inclusion criteria.
A dissenting reading, from Paul SackettWikipedia: Stereotype Threat, Wikimedia Foundation
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