‘Where there is a will, there is a way’: Belief in school meritocracy and the social‐class achievement gap
Open accessAbstract
Meritocratic ideology can promote system justification and the perpetuation of inequalities. The present research tests whether priming merit in the school context enhances the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on school achievement. French fifth graders read a text priming either school merit or a neutral content, reported their French and mathematics self‐efficacy as well as their belief in school meritocracy (BSM), and then took French and mathematics tests. Compared to the neutral condition, the merit prime condition increased the SES achievement gap. Self‐efficacy and BSM were tested as two potential mediators of the effect. The results support a mediated moderation model in which belief in school meritocracy is the mechanism through which the merit prime increased the SES achievement gap.
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Priming the concept of merit in French fifth-grade schoolchildren led to lower scores on language and mathematics tests, but only for low-socioeconomic-status children.
“Darnon, Wiederkehr, Dompnier, and Martinot (2018) primed the concept of merit in French fifth‐grade schoolchildren and found that this led to lower scores on language and mathematics tests – but that this only applied to low‐SES children.”
From The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour (2018) · cites this paper as Darnon, Wiederkehr, Dompnier, and Martinot (2018)
The effect of the merit prime on test performance was mediated by the extent to which the children endorsed meritocratic beliefs.
“the effect of the merit prime on test performance was mediated by the extent to which the children endorsed meritocratic beliefs”
From The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour (2018) · cites this paper as Darnon, Wiederkehr, Dompnier, and Martinot (2018)
Cites
Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review of Research
Sirin, S. R. (2005) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543075003417 · Cited by 4,687 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Social class is one such factor (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002; Goudeau, Autin, & Croizet, 2017; Sirin, 2005; White, 1982).”
An index and test of linear moderated mediation
Hayes, A. F. (2015) · Multivariate Behavioral Research · doi:10.1080/00273171.2014.962683 · Cited by 3,979 · see citing works
Sources of Self-Efficacy in School: Critical Review of the Literature and Future Directions
Usher, E. L., & Pajares, F. (2008) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654308321456 · Cited by 1,514 · cited 1× · see citing works
“This point is of importance as school self-efficacy—that is, the extent to which individuals think they have the resources to succeed at school (Bandura, 1977)—is a consistent predictor of school success (Usher & Pajares, 2006, 2008) and actually depends on social class (Gecas, 1989).”
BackgroundThe psychology of system justification and the palliative function of ideology
Jost, J., & Hunyady, O. (2003) · European Review of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/10463280240000046 · Cited by 833 · see citing works
Spencer, B., & Castano, E. (2007) · Social Justice Research · doi:10.1007/s11211-007-0047-7 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Belief in school meritocracy as a system-justifying tool for low status students
Wiederkehr, V., Bonnot, V., Krauth-Gruber, S., & Darnon, C. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01053 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
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The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour
Manstead, A. S. R. (2018) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12251 · Cited by 831 · see citing works
- Authors
- Darnon, C., Wiederkehr, V., Dompnier, B., & Martinot, D.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Darnon, Céline
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-09-11
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 250-262
- ISSN
- 0144-6665 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8309
- OpenAlex
- W2756441501
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 3.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- IRIS (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Conseil Régional d'Auvergne
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- socioeconomic status, achievement gap, system justification, priming, self-efficacy, academic performance, children, class inequality
- MeSH terms
- Academic Success, Attitude, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Schools, Social Class, Students, Self Efficacy
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