Following their performance on math tests, the group of women that was subjected to subtle stereotypes about women and math skills, subsequently performed another series of tasks designed to gauge their aggression levels, and their ability to focus and exercise control. In these follow-up tests, the women who felt discriminated against ate more than their peers in the control group, showed more hostility than the control group. And they performed more poorly on tests that measured their cognitive skills.
Even if the experience of facing prejudice and/or discrimination is short lived, the impact can be everlasting. ‘Even after a person leaves a situation where they faced negative stereotypes, the effects of coping with that situation remain,’ Inzlicht has said, adding, ‘People are more likely to be aggressive after they’ve faced prejudice in a given situation. They are more likely to exhibit a lack of self control. They have trouble making good, rational decisions, and are more likely to over indulge in unhealthy foods…We suspect that stereotype threat spillover contributes to a number of societal problems, with aggression, obesity, risky decisions, and poor attention being only a small subset of these.’
