Sex and performance under competition: Is there a stereotype threat shadow?

In this paper we experimentally study performance of men and women under competition, with implicitly and explicitly induced stereotype threats to both sexes. We use a mathematical task that is perceived as male-dominant and creates an implicit stereotype threat against woman. We also study conditions in which we explicitly reinforce or contradict the implicit stereotype threat by providing appropriate information. We find that despite stereotype threats against women, both men and women react positively and equally strong to competitive incentives. When the stereotype threat is explicitly contradicted, competitive incentives do not have an effect on the performance of both men and women. Our findings contrast previous results suggesting that men are more responsive to competition than women. We observe that men and women react similarly to competition in terms of performance across three different stereotype threat conditions. Interestingly, we also find that explicit stereotypebased expectations that contradict the stereotype men and women hold harm the competitive performance of both sexes.