According to this concept, a person who perceives themselves as stigmatized can attribute negative feedback to prejudice.
[1] This can lead stigmatized group members to feel uncertainty about whether negative outcomes are due to discrimination against them or their own behavior.
In comparison, they might discredit positive feedback as a form of sympathy rather than seeing it as the result of their ability and achievement.
[2] The term was coined by Melvin Snyder, Robert E. Kleck, Angelo Strenta, and Steven J. Mentzer in 1979[3] before being popularized by Jennifer Crocker, Brenda Major and their colleagues in the 1990s.
[4] Members of groups that are ‘stereotype-vulnerable’ or are often stereotyped are at greater risk of having less self-worth through the lens of attributional ambiguity.
In the absence of true feedback one cannot totally rely on that evaluation and thus cannot adjust their behavior or performance accordingly.