Hidden Identities and Stereotypes

Last registered on August 04, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Hidden Identities and Stereotypes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019262
Initial registration date
July 28, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 04, 2026, 9:21 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Vlastimil Rasocha
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Adrian Blattner
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2026-06-06
End date
2026-09-30
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Negative stereotypes and discrimination often motivate members of minorities to hide markers of their minority status. Motivated by a theory of strategic hiding, we propose a mechanism for the persistence of negative stereotypes: Negative stereotypes disproportionately lead higher-ability minority members to hide their minority status. If employers neglect selection into hiding, this reinforces their negative stereotypes. We test these predictions in a field experiment in the context of discrimination against the Roma in the Czech Republic, conducted in partnership with local NGOs and a major national employer. To study selection into hiding, we invite Roma jobseekers with diverse educational backgrounds and job experience to submit applications and measure how jobseekers of different ability levels conceal ethnic markers in résumés and recorded answers to interview questions. To measure the impact of selective hiding on stereotypes, we recruit employers to evaluate applications filled out by Roma and majority jobseekers, randomly revealing jobseekers’ minority status in a treatment group.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Blattner, Adrian and Vlastimil Rasocha. 2026. "Hidden Identities and Stereotypes." AEA RCT Registry. August 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19262-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2026-06-06
Intervention End Date
2026-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Applicants:
Hiding measures in constructed resumes (binary resume choice)
Accent in interviews

Employers:
Hiring decisions
Beliefs about minority status of applicants
Beliefs about proxies for ability of applicants (e.g. education, employment history etc.)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
To study selection into hiding, we invite Roma jobseekers with diverse educational and professional backgrounds to submit job applications. In the applications, we measure how Roma applicants' decision to conceal markers of their Roma identity in resumes and recorded interview answers varies with education and professional experience.

In a second experiment, we recruit employers to evaluate applications filled out by both Roma and majority jobseekers. To measure the impact of selective hiding on stereotypes, we randomly reveal applicants’ minority status to employers in a treatment group. Comparing employers’ predictions of the quality of Roma applicants across the selective hiding (control) and the revealed (treatment) conditions, we estimate how stereotypes are impacted by selective hiding relative to a counterfactual that experimentally eliminates hiding.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization online on prolific
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
300-500 applicants
300-700 employers
Sample size: planned number of observations
300-500 applicants 300-700 employers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Applicants: Treatment within-participant (50% control, 40% pro-roma treatment, 10% pro-vietnamese treatment)
Employers: Between participant (50% control, 50% revealed)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Stanford IRB
IRB Approval Date
2026-02-13
IRB Approval Number
IRB-80248
IRB Name
CERGE-EI
IRB Approval Date
2025-10-24
IRB Approval Number
-
Analysis Plan