Victor and Stanislaus are two elderly gentlemen standing in line at the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). They are both waiting to take a written test on driving laws to renew their licenses. Stanislaus overhears a DMV employee commenting that elderly men usually perform worse on the exam than other groups of people, but Victor does not hear the comment. Victor scores higher than Stanislaus on the exam, even though their performances are usually quite similar. Stanislaus's lower score may have been due to the effect of-

Stereotype threat

Explanation:

Stereotype threat, in social psychology, can be said to be the fear of the tendency to conform to a generalized belief that is held by many regarding a particular set of people, which in the actual sense, such beliefs or ideas are often mistaken. When an individual is being posed with a stereotype threat, such individual tends to eventually act in ways that lead to the confirmation of such stereotype.

The effect of stereotype threat what can be seen in the case stated in the question. The stereotype in the case in the question was that elderly men usually perform worse on the exam than other groups of people. It is this mistaken belief that Stanislaus became exposed to as he overheard a DMV employee stating so. This is what brought about the stereotype threat that affected his score, while Victor usually have the similar performances with him, scored higher.

Stanislaus’s lower score most probably may have been due to the effect of stereotype threat.