Chronic threat and contingent belonging: Protective benefits of values affirmation on identity development.
Abstract
Two longitudinal field experiments in a middle school examined how a brief "values affirmation" affects students' psychological experience and the relationship between psychological experience and environmental threat over 2 years. Together these studies suggest that values affirmations insulate individuals' sense of belonging from environmental threat during a key developmental transition. Study 1 provided an analysis of new data from a previously reported study. African American students in the control condition felt a decreasing sense of belonging during middle school, with low-performing students dropping more in 7th grade and high-performing students dropping more in 8th grade. The affirmation reduced this decline for both groups. Consistent with the notion that affirmation insulates belonging from environmental threat, affirmed African American students' sense of belonging in Study 1 fluctuated less over 2 years and became less contingent on academic performance. Based on the idea that developmentally sensitive interventions can have long-lasting benefits, Study 2 showed that the affirmation intervention was more effective if delivered before any drop in performance and subsequent psychological toll could unfold. The role of identity threat and affirmation in affecting the encoding of social experience, and the corresponding importance of timing treatments to developmentally sensitive periods, are explored.
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Feelings of belonging among Black students who did not take part in a values affirmation intervention were more variable and more strongly related to their grades than for other groups.
“Another study in U.S. schools found that feelings of belonging among Black students who did not take part in a values affirmation intervention were more variable and more strongly related to their grades than they were for other groups (Cook, Purdie-Vaughns, Garcia, & Cohen, 2012)”
From Tackling Educational Inequalities with Social Psychology: Identities, Contexts, and Interventions (2021) · cites this paper as Cook, Purdie-Vaughns, Garcia, & Cohen, 2012
Changes in interpretations triggered by wise interventions reduce students' sense of threat and boost their sense that they fit in the academic world, thus improving academic performance.
“The changes in interpretations that these interventions trigger reduce students' sense of threat and boost their sense that they fit in the academic world, thus improving academic performance (Cook et al., 2012;Shnabel, Purdie-Vaughns, Cook, Garcia, & Cohen, 2013).”
From Tackling Educational Inequalities with Social Psychology: Identities, Contexts, and Interventions (2021) · cites this paper as Cook et al., 2012
Because a threat is seen in the context of an expansive view of the self, it has less impact on psychological well-being.
“Second, because a threat is seen in the context of an expansive view of the self, it has less impact on psychological well-being (Cohen et al. 2009, Cook et al. 2012, Sherman et al. 2013).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Indeed, over two years, minority students saw their sense of belonging in school fall, as if successive adversities reinforced the narrative that they did not belong.
“Indeed, over two years, minority students saw their sense of belonging in school fall, as if successive adversities reinforced the narrative that they did not belong (Cook et al. 2012).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Among nonaffirmed minority students, a poor grade or a stressful day predicted a lower sense of belonging in school and a higher sense of racial threat.
“Among nonaffirmed minority students, a poor grade or a stressful day predicted a lower sense of belonging in school and a higher sense of racial threat (see Cook et al. 2012, Sherman et al. 2013).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Consistent with this, several findings suggest that self-affirmed minorities were more likely to see adversity as an isolated event rather than a threat to self.
“Consistent with this, several findings suggest that self-affirmed minorities were more likely to see adversity as an isolated event rather than a threat to self (see Cook et al. 2012;Sherman et al. 2013, study 2).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Affirmed students experienced many of the same stressors and slights as others but without the detrimental impact that nonaffirmed students experienced.
“Affirmed students experienced many of the same stressors and slights as others but without the detrimental impact that nonaffirmed students experienced.”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Self-affirmed individuals narrate adversity in a manner that better maintains the adequacy of the self and helps them to adaptively engage with threats; this narrative can build on itself over time.
“Self-affirmed individuals narrate adversity in a manner that better maintains the adequacy of the self and helps them to adaptively engage with threats; this narrative can build on itself over time”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Months after the intervention had commenced, affirmed minority students had a more robust identity as a person who belongs in school and were resilient to ongoing threats.
“For instance, months after the intervention had commenced, affirmed minority students had a more robust identity as a person who belongs in school and were resilient to ongoing threats”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Their experiences throughout the school year made the affirmed and nonaffirmed increasingly dissimilar, as their felt belonging in school diverged with time.
“Their experiences throughout the school year made the affirmed and nonaffirmed increasingly dissimilar, as their felt belonging in school diverged with time”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
In a field experiment, affirmation benefited minority students' classroom grades more if it took place in the first week of school, before any drop in performance and its ensuing psychological toll, than if it took place at the standard time a few weeks later.
“In a field experiment, affirmation benefited minority students' classroom grades more if it took place in the first week of school, before any drop in performance and its ensuing psychological toll, than if it took place at the standard time a few weeks later”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
When African Americans performed poorly early in the school year, they suffered a drop in their sense of academic belonging and did not recoup it even if their grades later improved.
“When African Americans performed poorly early in the school year, they suffered a drop in their sense of academic belonging and did not recoup it even if their grades later improved”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
Affirmed African Americans were buffered against the effects of early adversity.
“Affirmed African Americans, however, were buffered against the effects of early adversity.”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Cook et al. 2012
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- Authors
- Cook, J. E., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., & Cohen, G. L.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2012-03
- Volume
- 102
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 479-496
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2171757188
- Cited by
- 244
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 28.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- William T. Grant Foundation
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Keywords
- values affirmation, sense of belonging, identity construction, identity threat, environmental hazards, junior high school students, African American students, academic performance, developmental transitions, treatment timing, protective measures
- MeSH terms
- Black or African American, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Schools, Psychological Distance, Social Environment, Social Identification, Social Values, White People
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