Stereotype Threat and Health Disparities: What Medical Educators and Future Physicians Need to Know

Abstract

Patients' experience of stereotype threat in clinical settings and encounters may be one contributor to health care disparities. Stereotype threat occurs when cues in the environment make negative stereotypes associated with an individual's group status salient, triggering physiological and psychological processes that have detrimental consequences for behavior. By recognizing and understanding the factors that can trigger stereotype threat and understanding its consequences in medical settings, providers can prevent it from occurring or ameliorate its consequences for patient behavior and outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the implications of stereotype threat for medical education and trainee performance and offer practical suggestions for how future providers might reduce stereotype threat in their exam rooms and clinics.

Social Determinants of Risk and Outcomes for Cardiovascular Disease

“…57 Stereotype threat occurs when individuals, often unconsciously, fear being judged negatively according to racial stereotypes. In the context of medical care, stereotype threat might cause a black patient to approach an ambulatory care visit concerned that he or she may be treated according to a stereotype such as being nonadherent with medications or less able to understand complex medical issues.…”

Stereotypes of Aging: Their Effects on the Health of Older Adults

“…To understand how these internal mechanisms operate alongside external factors in the environment, researchers have drawn on stereotype threat theory with a focus on the effects of explicitly activating negative stereotypes of aging. Stereotype threat theory proposes that presenting familiar negative stereotypes associated with a certain group threatens this group into a scenario where they fear reaffirming these negative depictions [39][40][41][42].…”

Self-regulatory processes underlying structural stigma and health

“…These considerations are particularly important in the context of encounters in the medical system when the perceived potential for discrimination is high. Burgess, Warren, Phelan, Dovidio, and van Ryn (2010) provided compelling evidence that minority patients often have concerns about being stereotyped as unintelligent, "second class citizens" and undeserving of adequate care. Concerns about identity management can also be cognitively taxing, leaving fewer resources available for other cognitive demands.…”