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DeJoseph ML, Ellwood-Lowe ME, Miller-Cotto D, Silverman D, Shannon KA, Reyes G, Rakesh D, Frankenhuis WE. The promise and pitfalls of a strength-based approach to child poverty and neurocognitive development: Implications for policy. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 66:101375. [PMID: 38608359 PMCID: PMC11019102 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
There has been significant progress in understanding the effects of childhood poverty on neurocognitive development. This progress has captured the attention of policymakers and promoted progressive policy reform. However, the prevailing emphasis on the harms associated with childhood poverty may have inadvertently perpetuated a deficit-based narrative, focused on the presumed shortcomings of children and families in poverty. This focus can have unintended consequences for policy (e.g., overlooking strengths) as well as public discourse (e.g., focusing on individual rather than systemic factors). Here, we join scientists across disciplines in arguing for a more well-rounded, "strength-based" approach, which incorporates the positive and/or adaptive developmental responses to experiences of social disadvantage. Specifically, we first show the value of this approach in understanding normative brain development across diverse human environments. We then highlight its application to educational and social policy, explore pitfalls and ethical considerations, and offer practical solutions to conducting strength-based research responsibly. Our paper re-ignites old and recent calls for a strength-based paradigm shift, with a focus on its application to developmental cognitive neuroscience. We also offer a unique perspective from a new generation of early-career researchers engaged in this work, several of whom themselves have grown up in conditions of poverty. Ultimately, we argue that a balanced strength-based scientific approach will be essential to building more effective policies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - David Silverman
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, United States
| | | | - Gabriel Reyes
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, United States
| | - Divyangana Rakesh
- Neuroimaging Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security, and Law, Germany
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Silverman DM, Rosario RJ, Wormington SV, Tibbetts Y, Hulleman CS, Destin M. Race, academic achievement and the issue of inequitable motivational payoff. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:515-528. [PMID: 36823370 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01533-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
As racial inequities continue to pervade school systems around the world, further research is necessary to understand the factors undergirding this pressing issue. Here across three studies conducted in the United States (N = 8,293), we provide evidence that race-based differences in student achievement do not stem from a lack of motivation among Black, Latinx and Indigenous (BLI) students, but a lack of equitable motivational payoff. Even when BLI and non-BLI students have the same levels of motivation, BLI students still receive maths grades that are an average of 9% lower than those of their non-BLI peers (95% confidence interval 7 to 11%). This pattern was not explained by differences in students' aptitude, effort or prior achievement but was instead linked to teachers' diminished expectations for their BLI students' academic futures. We conclude by discussing statistical power limitations and the implications of the current findings for how researchers consider the sources of, and solutions for, educational inequity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Silverman
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
| | - R Josiah Rosario
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | | | - Yoi Tibbetts
- School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Chris S Hulleman
- School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Mesmin Destin
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,School of Education & Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
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Silverman DM, Hernandez IA, Destin M. Educators' Beliefs About Students' Socioeconomic Backgrounds as a Pathway for Supporting Motivation. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023; 49:215-232. [PMID: 34964382 DOI: 10.1177/01461672211061945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Students' understandings of their socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds have important implications for their motivation, achievement, and the emergence of SES-based educational disparities. Educators' beliefs about students' backgrounds likely play a meaningful role in shaping these understandings and, thus, may represent an important opportunity to support students from lower-SES backgrounds. We first experimentally demonstrate that educators can be encouraged to adopt background-specific strengths beliefs-which view students' lower-SES backgrounds as potential sources of unique and beneficial strengths (NStudy 1 = 125). Subsequently, we find that exposure to educators who communicate background-specific strengths beliefs positively influences the motivation and academic persistence of students, particularly those from lower-SES backgrounds (NStudy 2 = 256; NStudy 3 = 276). Furthermore, lower-SES students' own beliefs about their backgrounds mediated these effects. Altogether, our work contributes to social-psychological theory and practice regarding how key societal contexts can promote equity through identity-based processes.
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Hernandez IA, Silverman DM, Rosario RJ, Destin M. Concern about experiencing downward socioeconomic mobility generates precarious types of motivation among students of color. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION 2023; 26:1-32. [PMID: 36743269 PMCID: PMC9885402 DOI: 10.1007/s11218-023-09763-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Students' beliefs about whether they will experience changes in their socioeconomic status influence their academic motivation. We propose that students who are concerned about downward socioeconomic mobility will focus their attention on negative academic outcomes and exhibit motivational goals oriented towards preventing negative possibilities and that this relationship will be particularly pronounced among students of color. Two studies investigated the relationship between college students' concerns about downward socioeconomic mobility and their adoption of academic achievement goals. The more that students of color expressed concerns about experiencing downward socioeconomic mobility, the more they adopted academic mastery-avoidance goals (β = 0.76), whereas there was no significant relationship between concerns about downward socioeconomic mobility and mastery-avoidance goals among White students (β = - 0.24; Study 1). Experimentally induced concerns about downward socioeconomic mobility increased academic mastery-avoidance goals among students of color (β = - 0.58) but decreased mastery-avoidance goals among White students (β = 0.46; Study 2). Together, results indicate that there is a strong relationship between concerns about downward socioeconomic mobility and mastery-avoidance goals among students of color, highlighting the importance of understating how students of color make sense of their future socioeconomic prospects in order to most effectively support their academic trajectories positively. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11218-023-09763-5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan A. Hernandez
- San Diego State University, 6475 Alvarado Rd., Suite 135, San Diego, CA 92120 USA
| | | | | | - Mesmin Destin
- Department of Psychology, School of Education & Social Policy, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA
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An Organizing Framework for Teaching Practices that Can “Expand” the Self and Address Social Identity Concerns. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10648-022-09715-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Destin M, Silverman DM, Rogers LO. Expanding the social psychological study of educators through humanizing principles. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mesmin Destin
- Department of Psychology Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
- School of Education & Social Policy Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
- Institute for Policy Research Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
| | | | - Leoandra Onnie Rogers
- Department of Psychology Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
- Institute for Policy Research Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
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Lewis Jr. NA. Can We Achieve “Equality” When We Have Different Understandings of Its Meaning? How Contexts and Identities Shape the Pursuit of Egalitarian Goals. PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/1047840x.2021.1971441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neil A. Lewis Jr.
- Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Ithaca, New York, USA
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8
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Behavioural science is unlikely to change the world without a heterogeneity revolution. Nat Hum Behav 2021; 5:980-989. [PMID: 34294901 PMCID: PMC8928154 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01143-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
In the past decade, behavioural science has gained influence in policymaking but suffered a crisis of confidence in the replicability of its findings. Here, we describe a nascent heterogeneity revolution that we believe these twin historical trends have triggered. This revolution will be defined by the recognition that most treatment effects are heterogeneous, so the variation in effect estimates across studies that defines the replication crisis is to be expected as long as heterogeneous effects are studied without a systematic approach to sampling and moderation. When studied systematically, heterogeneity can be leveraged to build more complete theories of causal mechanism that could inform nuanced and dependable guidance to policymakers. We recommend investment in shared research infrastructure to make it feasible to study behavioural interventions in heterogeneous and generalizable samples, and suggest low-cost steps researchers can take immediately to avoid being misled by heterogeneity and begin to learn from it instead.
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Turetsky KM, Sinclair S, Starck JG, Shelton JN. Beyond students: how teacher psychology shapes educational inequality. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:697-709. [PMID: 34119420 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Although researchers investigating psychological contributors to educational inequality have traditionally focused on students, a growing literature highlights the importance of teachers' psychology in shaping disparities in students' educational achievement and attainment. In this review, we discuss recent advances linking teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs to inequality in students' outcomes. First, we identify specific aspects of teacher psychology that contribute to educational disparities, including teachers' biases, perceptions and expectations of students, beliefs about the nature of ability, and beliefs about group differences. Second, we synthesize mechanisms underlying the effects of teacher psychology on educational inequality, including teachers' disparate assessment of students' work and abilities, interpersonal interaction with students, and psychological impact on students. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed.
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Qu Y, Jorgensen NA, Telzer EH. A Call for Greater Attention to Culture in the Study of Brain and Development. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021; 16:275-293. [PMID: 32813984 PMCID: PMC9356540 DOI: 10.1177/1745691620931461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2023]
Abstract
Despite growing research on neurobiological development, little attention has been paid to cultural and ethnic variation in neurodevelopmental processes. We present an overview of the current state of developmental cognitive neuroscience with respect to its attention to cultural issues. Analyses based on 80 publications represented in five recent meta-analyses related to adolescent developmental neuroscience show that 99% of the publications used samples in Western countries. Only 22% of studies provided a detailed description of participants' racial/ethnic background, and only 18% provided for socioeconomic status. Results reveal a trend in developmental cognitive neuroscience research: The body of research is derived not only mostly from Western samples but also from participants whose race/ethnicity is unknown. To achieve a holistic perspective on brain development in different cultural contexts, we propose and highlight an emerging interdisciplinary approach-developmental cultural neuroscience-the intersection of developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. Developmental cultural neuroscience aims to elucidate cultural similarities and differences in neural processing across the life span. We call attention to the importance of incorporating culture into the empirical investigation of neurodevelopment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Qu
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, USA
| | - Nathan A. Jorgensen
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
| | - Eva H. Telzer
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
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