The “Obama effect” is a theory that combats the effects of negative stereotypes, which is when a group confirms a negative social stereotype for their own social group. For example, a negative stereotype is that Black Americans perform worse on tests than White Americans, and when Black Americans are told of the stereotype before the test, they perform worse than White Americans. The “Obama Effect” is an effect that combats negative stereotypes. When a role model who challenges stereotypes is very prominent and well-known, such as President Obama, this is believed to eliminate the effects of negative stereotypes on performance. A role model must be seen as competent, as an in-group role model for the group of stereotyped individuals, and the group must be well aware of the role model's success in areas where the group is negatively stereotyped. The researchers hypothesized that Obama's success challenging negative stereotypes will reduce racial performance differences even when participants are aware of stereotype threat as long as Obama's success is well known and salient. Furthermore, the “Obama effect” does not eliminate black Americans' concern about confirming the negative stereotype. However, it will prevent the negative stereotype from affecting their performance. 472 participants from across the country took part in the study; 83 African Americans and 388 Caucasians. The two groups were matched based on English language proficiency and also education level, in order to eliminate any possible confusion related to intelligence. The data was collected four times, either at a time when Obama's success was salient or at a less obvious time. These times were before he was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, right after he accepted the nomination,......middle of paper...they completely felt like a role model who was part of their group for some reason, the “effect Obama” would not apply. I think the continuation of this study needs to look at other populations for black and white Americans, such as those who may not have access to the internet and those with lower SES. Additionally, at the end of the article, the researchers make brief references to how the “Obama effect” might parallel the impact that role models in the immediate vicinity have in overcoming stereotype threats. This would be interesting to study because, although the role model is closer, a Black-American teacher may not be seen as a strong challenge to a negative stereotype because his or her position is not as powerful or difficult to achieve as president. They therefore do not have the same relevance as that of President Obama, and perhaps have no real effect on an individual's ability to overcome a negative stereotype..