Stereotype Threat

Abstract

Abstract This chapter conceptualizes stereotype threat as a situated theory of social cognition. It describes the psychosocial experience of stereotype threat and how it shapes basic social cognitive processes (e.g. attention, vigilance, working memory, metaperceptions, and rumination). The chapter discusses four ways this conceptualization clarifies the stereotype threat phenomenon and argues that appreciating (and assessing) its tie to perceivers’ sociocultural and historical context offers an approach that can strengthen other social cognition theories. In particular, stereotype threat research reveals that perceivers are not interchangeable: Who perceivers are—their social group memberships and sociocultural and historical contexts—shapes basic social cognitive processes and behavior. Likewise, what perceivers attend to is dynamic and inextricably tied to their sociocultural and historical context, as are the resulting outcomes. Thus, the chapter argues that stereotype threat and other social cognitive theories should distinguish between theorized processes in a given context and the theorized outcomes that result.