Seed and Soil: Psychological Affordances in Contexts Help to Explain Where Wise Interventions Succeed or Fail

Walton, Gregory M.; Yeager, David S.

doi:10.1177/0963721420904453

Cited by 175 publications

(200 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…and psychologically (e.g., can an empowered and culturally resonant aid narrative be legitimate and thus sustained in the local social context?) (55). In studying effects over time in defined contexts, we can begin to understand the ways in which dignity in aid can be delivered in cost-effective and scalable ways.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya

Thomas

Otis

Abraham

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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How can governments and nonprofits design aid programs that afford dignity and facilitate beneficial outcomes for recipients? We conceptualize dignity as a state that manifests when the stigma associated with receiving aid is countered and recipients are empowered, both in culturally resonant ways. Yet materials from the largest cash transfer programs in Africa predominantly characterize recipients as needy and vulnerable. Three studies examined the causal effects of alternative aid narratives on cash transfer recipients and donors. In study 1, residents of low-income settlements in Nairobi, Kenya (N =565) received cash-based aid accompanied by a randomly assigned narrative: the default deficit-focused “Poverty Alleviation” narrative, an “Individual Empowerment” narrative, or a “Community Empowerment” narrative. They then chose whether to spend time building business skills or watching leisure videos. Both empowerment narratives improved self-efficacy and anticipated social mobility, but only the “Community Empowerment” narrative significantly motivated recipients’ choice to build skills and reduced stigma. Given the diverse settings in which aid is delivered, how can organizations quickly identify effective narratives in a context? We asked recipients to predict which narrative would best motivate skill-building in their community. In study 2, this “local forecasting” methodology outperformed participant evaluations and experimental pilots in accurately ranking treatments. Finally, study 3 confirmed that the narrative most effective for recipients did not undermine donors’ willingness to contribute to the program. Together these studies show that responding to recipients’ psychological and sociocultural realities in the design of aid can afford recipients dignity and help realize aid’s potential.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya

Thomas

Otis

Abraham

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

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“…Behavioral interventions are not magic bullets with invariant effects [24]; rather, their effectiveness depends on qualities that vary in real-world contexts [25]. A fundamental scientific and applied question is understanding these contexts and mapping how and when qualities in contexts allow a given intervention to change a desired behavior [26]. As the present intervention uses social norms to motivate behavior change, we generally expect heterogeneity of effects across factors that have been shown to moderate the influence of social norms.…”

Section: Overview Of Field Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a Scalable Dynamic Norm Menu-Based Intervention to Reduce Meat Consumption

et al. 2020

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How can we curb the current norm of unsustainable levels of meat consumption? Research on dynamic norms finds that learning that others are starting to eat less meat can inspire people to follow suit. Across four field experiments, we test efforts to scale dynamic-norm messages by incorporating them into restaurant and web-based menus. Studies 1–3 find increases in vegetarian orders when dynamic norms are included in menus (1–2.5 percentage points), although this effect does not always reach statistical significance and varies across populations and analytic models. In Study 4, dynamic norms significantly reduced vegetarian orders. These results raise two critical questions. First, where and with whom should a dynamic norm message reduce meat consumption? Our field data and past theory point to non-high socioeconomic contexts, and contexts where the reference group of people who have changed is meaningful to consumers. Second, how can the treatment be strengthened? Over five online experiments, we find that the visibility of the messages can be greatly improved, and more relatable norm referents can be selected. Although impacts on food orders appear modest, the minimal costs of scaling menu-based dynamic norm messages and the possibility of improving effect sizes make this a promising approach.

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“…Further, the potential for complementarities across domains, contexts, and treatments is large, and exploration may benefit from stronger theories of when they might be expected to operate. Walton and Yeager (2020) hypothesized that interventions targeting only beliefs (but not teaching skills) would generally be more effective following the end of treatment in contexts that reinforce the idea that the belief is valid and actionable. Supportive evidence comes from the National Study of Learning Mindsets (Yeager, Hanselman, Walton, et al, 2019), which evaluated a short, online “growth mindset” intervention designed to motivate ninth-grade students by teaching them that abilities were malleable.…”

Section: Mechanisms For Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence and Fade-Out of Educational-Intervention Effects: Mechanisms and Potential Solutions

Bailey

Duncan

Cunha

et al. 2020

Psychol Sci Public Interest

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144

120

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Some environmental influences, including intentional interventions, have shown persistent effects on psychological characteristics and other socially important outcomes years and even decades later. At the same time, it is common to find that the effects of life events or interventions diminish and even disappear completely, a phenomenon known as fade-out. We review the evidence for persistence and fade-out, drawing primarily on evidence from educational interventions. We conclude that (a) fade-out is widespread and often coexists with persistence; (b) fade-out is a substantive phenomenon, not merely a measurement artifact; and (c) persistence depends on the types of skills targeted, the institutional constraints and opportunities within the social context, and complementarities between interventions and subsequent environmental affordances. We discuss the implications of these conclusions for research and policy.

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Seed and Soil: Psychological Affordances in Contexts Help to Explain Where Wise Interventions Succeed or Fail

Cited by 175 publications

References 33 publications

Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya

Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya

Developing a Scalable Dynamic Norm Menu-Based Intervention to Reduce Meat Consumption

Persistence and Fade-Out of Educational-Intervention Effects: Mechanisms and Potential Solutions

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