Men are stereotyped as more physically competent than women. The stereotyping of women’s poor performance creates the conditions for stereotype threat. Stereotype threat, the fear of confirming a stereotype, can undermine women’s performances and participation in sports. Stereotype threat, however, has not been tested in strength-building activities. The present study experimentally tests whether stereotype threat undermines women’s willingness to perform unmodified push-ups and undermines their push-up performance. Women were assigned to four conditions: a stereotype-threat condition, an implicit stereotype-threat condition, a relief condition, and a control condition. Under stereotype threat, women were expected to choose modified over unmodified push-ups and, among those performing unmodified push-ups, to complete fewer push-ups than women in the other conditions. These hypotheses were not supported. During debriefings, women described their experiences related to push-ups and strength training. A thematic analysis of women’s debriefings offers insight into the gender complexities of women’s engagement with strength training.
