Stereotype threat reverses the gender gap in third-grade reading: boys underperform girls under threat but outperform them under reduced threat¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Boys underperformed girls in the threat condition, whereas they outperformed girls in the reduced-threat condition on a reading test. → Pascal Pansu 2016

Evidence¶

Pascal Pansu 2016¶

Pascal Pansu, Isabelle Régner, Sylvain Max, Pascale Colé, John B. Nezlek, Pascal Huguet. (2016). A burden for the boys: Evidence of stereotype threat in boys' reading performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 65, pp.26-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2016.02.008

q3 · i? · causal · r?

Controlled experiment in which eighty third-grade students took a reading test assigned to a threat condition (test presented as diagnostic of reading abilities) or a reduced-threat condition (test presented as a game). The article reports the condition-by-gender reversal with no printed effect size.

"Boys underperformed girls in the threat condition, whereas they outperformed girls in the reduced-threat condition."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Gender — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group
• Stereotype Threat — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• The threat-by-gender pattern in reading occurred only among highly-identified students — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• White men performed measurably worse on tests of innate athletic ability when under stereotype threat
• Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger — related
• The gender gap in reading is three times bigger than the gender gap in math — related
• Brilliance cues reduce stigmatized students' interest and intrinsic motivation, with effects emerging by age 6–7 and persisting into adulthood — related
• Stereotype threat compromises the test performance of learners whose group is the target of a negative stereotype — a broader claim this one bears on
• Grading showed differential effects by student group in Swedish quasi-experimental data: low-ability students fared worse when graded, girls better (review-reported) — related
• Altering the order of administration of math and verbal tests serves as an ecological intervention that reduces stereotype threat on girls’ math performance. — related