Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Stereotype Threat describes the negative impact on cognitive performance caused by the activation of negative social stereotypes. This study investigates the underlying cognitive mechanisms of gender-specific Stereotype Threat effects. Four online experiments were conducted with 1,164 participants, randomly assigned to either a Stereotype Threat or a control condition. To model the underlying cognitive processes, parameters of the drift diffusion model were estimated and effects on accuracy and response times were reported. Results showed no differences in accuracy as an effect of Stereotype Threat. However, women in the Stereotype Threat condition consistently responded more slowly and, in one experiment, exhibited a higher threshold separation when completing the mathematical task, indicating more conservative response tendencies, compared to men and the control group. The study addresses the need for potential interventions such as stereotype awareness to mitigate these effects and calls for further research into cultural and social influencing factors.