| Two studies examined whether people self-stereotype when confronted with a personal identity threat paired with activation of a salient social identity. In Study 1, participants who received negative feedback (a personal identity threat) were more likely to self-stereotype on masculine traits and to identify more with their gender group but there was no effect of gender salience compared to non-threatened participants. In Study 2 the predicted interaction between threat and gender salience emerged on gender identification items. Overall, the results support a self-stereotyping framework: When gender is salient and individuals are under threat, they are more likely to take on the characteristics of their gender group and identify more highly with that group. |
