PSA005 stereotype threat tests test a core proposition of stereotype threat theory, which predicts that the possibility of confirming a negative stereotype can cause people to underperform on the very tasks on which they are stereotyped.

Despite its immense theoretical and practical implications, the studies supporting stereotype threat theory suffer from small samples and varying operational definitions of the focal stereotype threat effect. The project uses big team science to address both problems and is accepted as a Stage 1 Registered Report in Nature Human Behaviour.