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Yan VX, Oyserman D, Kiper G, Atari M. Difficulty-as-Improvement: The Courage to Keep Going in the Face of Life's Difficulties. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2024; 50:1006-1022. [PMID: 36861424 DOI: 10.1177/01461672231153680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
When a task or goal is hard to think about or do, people can infer that it is a waste of their time (difficulty-as-impossibility) or valuable to them (difficulty-as-importance). Separate from chosen tasks and goals, life can present unchosen difficulties. Building on identity-based motivation theory, people can see these as opportunities for self-betterment (difficulty-as-improvement). People use this language when they recall or communicate about difficulties (autobiographical memories, Study 1; "Common Crawl" corpus, Study 2). Our difficulty mindset measures are culture-general (Australia, Canada, China, India, Iran, New Zealand, Turkey, the United States, Studies 3-15, N = 3,532). People in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD)-er countries slightly agree with difficulty-as-improvement. Religious, spiritual, conservative people, believers in karma and a just world, and people from less-WEIRD countries score higher. People who endorse difficulty-as-importance see themselves as conscientious, virtuous, and leading lives of purpose. So do endorsers of difficulty-as-improvement-who also see themselves as optimists (all scores lower for difficulty-as-impossibility endorsers).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Gülnaz Kiper
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
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2
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Wang Q, Liu X. Child Abuse and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Chinese Migrant Adolescents: The Moderating Roles of Beliefs About Adversity and Family Socioeconomic Status. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2023; 38:3165-3190. [PMID: 35616091 DOI: 10.1177/08862605221104537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Although research has indicated the association between child abuse and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), few studies have examined their relationship in a particular sample of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents who tend to experience parental abuse and engage in NSSI. More importantly, factors moderating the relationship between child abuse and migrant adolescents' NSSI have been understudied. To address this issue, this study aimed to examine whether beliefs about adversity and family socioeconomic status (SES) moderated the longitudinal relationship between child abuse and NSSI in a sample of Chinese migrant adolescents. 308 Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents (aged 10-14; 138 boys) completed the two-wave survey. Self-reported questionnaires regarding child abuse, NSSI, beliefs about adversity, and family SES were used. Results showed that child abuse was significantly positively related to NSSI a year later. Moreover, the interaction of child abuse, beliefs about adversity, and family SES was significant. Specifically, for migrant adolescents with low SES, positive beliefs about adversity played a protective role in the association between child abuse and NSSI; while for those with high SES, such beliefs showed vulnerability. Findings underscore the importance of considering multiple resilient factors simultaneously by examining beliefs about adversity and SES as the moderating mechanisms in the association between child abuse and NSSI. Findings also emphasize the significance of developing differential interventions targeting NSSI in abused Chinese migrant adolescents. Positive beliefs about adversity are important in buffering the negative effect of child abuse for migrant adolescents with low SES. For those with high SES, special attention should be given to the interactive impact of child abuse, beliefs about adversity, and family SES.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quanquan Wang
- Collaborative Innovation Centre of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China
| | - Xia Liu
- Institute of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China
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Kiper G, Atari M, Yan VX, Oyserman D. The upside: How people make sense of difficulty matters during a crisis. SELF AND IDENTITY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2022.2033309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gülnaz Kiper
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mohammad Atari
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Veronica X. Yan
- Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Daphna Oyserman
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Concern or comfort with social comparisons matter in undergraduate physics courses: Joint consideration of situated expectancy-value theory, mindsets, and gender. CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.102023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Abstract
People struggle to stay motivated to work toward difficult goals. Sometimes the feeling of difficulty signals that the goal is important and worth pursuing; other times, it signals that the goal is impossible and should be abandoned. In this article, we argue that how difficulty is experienced depends on how we perceive and experience the timing of difficult events. We synthesize research from across the social and behavioral sciences and propose a new, integrated model to explain how components of time perception interact with interpretations of experienced difficulty to influence motivation and goal-directed behavior. Although these constructs have been studied separately in previous research, we suggest that these factors are inseparable and that an integrated model will help us to better understand motivation and predict behavior. We conclude with new empirical questions to guide future research and by discussing the implications of this research for both theory and intervention practice.
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Oyserman D, O'Donnell SC, Sorensen N, Wingert KM. Process matters: Teachers benefit their classrooms and students when they deliver an identity-based motivation intervention with fidelity. CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.101993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Camfield EK, Schiller NR, Land KM. Nipped in the Bud: COVID-19 Reveals the Malleability of STEM Student Self-Efficacy. CBE LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION 2021; 20:ar25. [PMID: 33961492 PMCID: PMC8734385 DOI: 10.1187/cbe.20-09-0206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Revised: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
When a global pandemic hits during a longitudinal study of biology student success, researchers can unearth rich information about student resilience. By sharing case studies from two demographically different midsized 4-year institutions, this article illustrates the aspects of student self-efficacy beliefs that were undercut by the shift to emergency remote instruction (ERI) in introductory biology courses in Spring 2020: agency and belonging. By assessing student predictions of exam performance and analyzing themes from 276 student narrative surveys, we highlight the power of a careful balance between cognitive and social interventions to help students recover. Students in this study showed a 50% loss of efficacy beliefs after ERI (midsemester) but were able to improve to at least 75% above starting efficacy beliefs after instructor interventions. Thus, we also show how academic efficacy is highly malleable and is mediated in relationships. In turn, we demonstrate a new assessment model that uses student narrative writing to reveal "invisible" threats to students' perceptions of their capacity to succeed. Finally, we generalize from their findings to provide recommendations for effective strategies for supporting those students for whom every semester feels like a pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eileen Kogl Camfield
- Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning, University of California at Merced, Merced, CA 95343
| | | | - Kirkwood M. Land
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211
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Destin M, Hanselman P, Buontempo J, Tipton E, Yeager DS. Do Student Mindsets Differ by Socioeconomic Status and Explain Disparities in Academic Achievement in the United States? AERA OPEN 2019; 5:10.1177/2332858419857706. [PMID: 32292799 PMCID: PMC7156083 DOI: 10.1177/2332858419857706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Students from higher-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds show a persistent advantage in academic outcomes over lower-SES students. It is possible that students' beliefs about academic ability, or mindsets, play some role in contributing to these disparities. Data from a recent nationally representative sample of ninth-grade students in U.S. public schools provided evidence that higher SES was associated with fewer fixed beliefs about academic ability (a group difference of .22 standard deviations). Also, there was a negative association between a fixed mindset and grades that was similar regardless of a student's SES. Finally, student mindsets were a significant but small factor in explaining the existing relationship between SES and achievement. Altogether, mindsets appear to be associated with socioeconomic circumstances and academic achievement; however, the vast majority of the existing socioeconomic achievement gap in the U.S. is likely driven by the root causes of inequality.
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Lewis NA, Yates JF. Preparing Disadvantaged Students for Success in College: Lessons Learned From the Preparation Initiative. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2019; 14:54-59. [PMID: 30799746 DOI: 10.1177/1745691618808515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neil A Lewis
- 1 Department of Communication, Center for Health Equity, Center for the Study of Inequality, Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, Cornell University
| | - J Frank Yates
- 2 Department of Psychology and Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
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Horowitz E, Sorensen N, Yoder N, Oyserman D. Teachers can do it: Scalable identity-based motivation intervention in the classroom. CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Oyserman D, Elmore K, Novin S, Fisher O, Smith GC. Guiding People to Interpret Their Experienced Difficulty as Importance Highlights Their Academic Possibilities and Improves Their Academic Performance. Front Psychol 2018; 9:781. [PMID: 29887819 PMCID: PMC5983065 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Does experiencing difficulty bolster or undermine future self-images, strategies to get there and actual performance? We build on four insights from prior research to predict that accessible interpretation-of-experienced-difficulty mindset shapes identity and performance. First, people have two different interpretation-of-experienced-difficulty mindsets available in memory; their difficulty-as-impossibility mindset focuses attention on difficulty as implying low odds and their difficulty-as-importance mindset focuses attention on difficulty as implying high value. Second, people are sensitive to contextual cues as to which mindset to apply to understand their experienced difficulty. Third, people apply the mindset that comes to mind unless they have reason to question why it is "on-the-mind." Fourth, social class can be thought of as a chronic context influencing how much people endorse each interpretation-of-experienced-difficulty mindset. We used subtle primes to guide participants' attention toward either a difficulty-as-importance or a difficulty-as-impossibility mindset (N = 591). Participants guided toward a difficulty-as-importance mindset performed better on difficult academic tasks (Studies 1, 2) than participants guided toward a difficulty-as-impossibility mindset; whether they had more school-focused possible identities and linked strategies depended on sample (Studies 3, 4). For college students, the effect of guided interpretation-of-experienced-difficulty mindset was not moderated by how much participants agreed with that mindset (Studies 1, 3, 4). College students mostly disagreed with a difficulty-as-impossibility mindset, but making that mindset accessible undermined their performance and sometimes their possible identities anyway. In contrast, middle school students (a younger and lower social class sample) were more likely to agree with a difficulty-as-impossibility mindset. In this sample (Study 2), we found an effect of mindset endorsement: agreeing that difficulty implies importance and disagreeing that difficulty implies impossibility improved performance. This study had a control group. Control group participants not guided to use a particular interpretation-of-experienced-difficulty mindset performed no differently than participants guided toward a difficulty-as-impossibility mindset. Results suggest that people may chronically act as if they are using a difficulty-as-impossibility mindset and may benefit from being guided to consider that experienced difficulty might imply task importance. Effect of accessible mindset on salience of academic possible selves was not stable, accessible mindset mattered in one university sample but not the other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daphna Oyserman
- Department of Psychology, Dornsife Mind and Society Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Kristen Elmore
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Sheida Novin
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Oliver Fisher
- Department of Psychology, Dornsife Mind and Society Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - George C. Smith
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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Fisher O, O'Donnell SC, Oyserman D. Social class and identity-based motivation. Curr Opin Psychol 2017; 18:61-66. [PMID: 28826006 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Revised: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 07/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Attainments often fall short of aspirations to lead lives of meaning, health, happiness and success. Identity-based motivation theory highlights how social class and cultural contexts affect likelihood of shortfalls: Identities influence the strategies people are willing to use to attain their goals and the meaning people make of experienced ease and difficulty. Though sensitive to experienced ease and difficulty, people are not sensitive to the sources of these experiences. Instead, people make culturally-tuned inferences about what their experiences imply for who they are and could become and what to do about it. American culture highlights personal and shadows structural causes of ease and difficulty, success and failure. As a result, people infer that class-based outcomes are deserved reflections of character.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Fisher
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, SGM 501, 3620 South McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, United States
| | - S Casey O'Donnell
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, SGM 501, 3620 South McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, United States
| | - Daphna Oyserman
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, SGM 501, 3620 South McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, United States.
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Oyserman D, Lewis NA, Yan VX, Fisher O, O'Donnell SC, Horowitz E. An Identity-Based Motivation Framework for Self-Regulation. PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/1047840x.2017.1337406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daphna Oyserman
- Department of Psychology, Dornsife Mind and Society Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Neil A. Lewis
- Department of Communication, Center for the Study of Inequality, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Veronica X. Yan
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
| | - Oliver Fisher
- Department of Psychology, Dornsife Mind and Society Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - S. Casey O'Donnell
- Department of Psychology, Dornsife Mind and Society Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Eric Horowitz
- Department of Psychology, Dornsife Mind and Society Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
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