Why Can’t I Just Be Myself?: A Social Cognitive Analysis of the Working Self-Concept Under Stereotype Threat

We examined the hypothesis that stereotype threat disrupts reflexive cuing of the default self-concept and instead evokes a more reflective process of self-definition. Across two studies, a reaction time measure of math schematicity assessed prior to a math test was predicted by baseline math schematicity among men (Study 1) and women in a nonthreatening condition (Study 2). However, among women under stereotype threat, math schematicity measured prior to a diagnostic math test was unrelated to baseline math schematicity and was instead associated with explicit endorsement of math. These effects occurred for math and not language self-schemas, suggesting that under threat, the working self-concept might be derived from conscious reflection rather than automatic activation.