Everyone is familiar with acute stress. We experience it in varying forms and degrees every day. Acute stress in humans triggers the release of glucocorticoids (GCs) and influences performance in working memory (WM) tasks. This memory system relies on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), where GC-binding receptors are present. It is well known that stressful experiences may affect WM, but the results concerning the influence of acute stress on WM are quite heterogeneous with no, impairing or enhancing effects being reported. One factor which might mediate the effects of acute stress on WM is stress mindset. The main purpose of this research was to test the effect of stress mindset on WM under acute stress within female participants. Previous studies revealed that stress mindset is associated with moderate cortisol under stress，so we predict that having a stress-is-enhancing mindset will contribute to better performance in working memory tasks under acute stress. In Study 1, we investigated the reliability of the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test(SECPT) to elicit stress responses in Chinese female sample and tested the relationship between general stress mindset and WM performance under acute stress. A total of 55 female university students were recruited and were randomly assigned to “stress” or “no stress” group. The participants completed several scale (SMM-G, PANAS and Stress VAS) , then performed the standardized SECPT protocol or just put hand into lukewarm water respectively, during which several subjective measures (PANAS and Stress VAS) and objective measures (heart rate and skin conductance) were assessed. Then, participants performed n-back task to measure WM performance after completing SECPT. Results showed that female participants exhibited a significant increase in heart rate and skin conductance, and reported more negative emotion and stress following the SECPT. And general stress mindset was not significantly related to WM performance in reaction time and accuracy rate in both 1-back task and 3-back task. In study 2, we viewed mindset as a contextual factor, tested the effect of stress mindset in the specific context on WM performance under acute stress. A total of 58 female university students were recruited and were randomly assigned to “stress-is-debilitating mindset” or “stress-is-debilitating mindset” group. Firstly, the participants reported their stress level，then they watched two different video clips respectively to induce different mindsets. And then they performed the standardized SECPT protocol, marked the Stress VAS, finished the SMM-S to measure their mindsets and finished n-back task including 2-back and 3-back task. Results showed that (1) the SMM was higher for those in the enhancing condition than those in the debilitating condition, t（56）=7.736，p<0.001，d=2.07. (2) After SECPT ，participants reported higher stress level both in the enhancing condition and debilitating condition (F(1,56)=6.441，p<0.05, ηp2=0.103) . (3)There was no significant difference in stress level between the enhancing condition and debilitating condition after SECPT(F(1,56)=1.089，p>0.05). (4) Participants in the enhancing condition showed better WM performance under acute stress. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that SECPT is a protocol with good applicability in Chinese adult participants. Stress mindset indeed has effect on WM performance under acute stress within female participants. This study provides support for the idea that the mindset may also matter in the domain of stress.