Weger, U. W., Hooper, N., Meier, B. P., & Hopthrow, T. (2012). Mindful maths: reducing the impact of stereotype threat through a mindfulness exercise. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(1), 471-475. Doi:10.1016/j.concog.2011.10.011
Individuals who experience stereotype threat – the pressure resulting from social compar- isons that are perceived as unfavourable – show performance decrements across a wide range of tasks. One account of this effect is that the cognitive pressure triggered by such threat drains the same cognitive (or working-memory) resources that are implicated in the respective task. The present study investigates whether mindfulness can be used to moderate stereotype threat, as mindfulness has previously been shown to alleviate work- ing-memory load. Our results show that performance decrements that typically occur under stereotype threat can indeed be reversed when the individual engages in a brief (5 min) mindfulness task. The theoretical implications of our findings are discussed.