Stereotype manipulation effects on math and spatial test performance: A meta-analysis

• Threat to females group showed significant deleterious effect of stereotype threat.
• Task, sex of experimenter, and control group accounted for significant variance in effect sizes.
• Small but significant effect of stereotype threat on women's math performance.
• No significant effects of stereotype threat on men's or women's spatial performance.

A meta-analysis of 224 effect sizes (d) drawn from 86 studies examined the relationship between gender, stereotype manipulations, and math and spatial performance. Stereotype manipulations were analyzed separately as a function of gender (threat to males, threat to females, lift for males, lift for females). Only the threat to females grouping (d = 0.29) showed a mean effect size that was significantly different from zero, indicating significant deleterious effects of stereotype threat instructions. Analyses for the threat to females and lift for females categories in an attempt to account for significant variability in these groupings showed that task, sex of experimenter, and control group type accounted for significant variance in effect sizes. Essentially, the effects of stereotype threat on women can be interpreted as relatively small but significant in math performance, but non-significant in spatial performance. Implications for interpretations of gender differences in math and spatial performance are discussed.