There are three assumptions made at the beginning of the study:

• People are motivated to maintain self-integrity

• Group memberships are an important aspect of self-integrity, so negative group characterizations can be a threat to self-integrity

• If a psychological threat is too severe, it can undermine performance

• On average, African Americans' stress levels in the academic setting are raised to a crippling level, which can hinder performance because of the psychological threat associated with the negative stereotype regarding the intelligence of their race.

• People in minority groups might worry that performing poorly could confirm the negative stereotype of their minority group, which can create chronic stress.