Demystifying Values-Affirmation Interventions: Writing About Social Belonging Is a Key to Buffering Against Identity Threat

Shnabel, Nurit; Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie; Cook, Jonathan E.; Garcia, Julio; Cohen, Geoffrey L.

doi:10.1177/0146167213480816

Cited by 166Social and Intergroup PsychologyDeath Anxiety and Social ExclusionEducation, Achievement, and Giftedness

Demystifying Values-Affirmation Interventions: Writing About Social Belonging Is a Key to Buffering Against Identity Threat

Shnabel, Nurit, Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie, Cook, Jonathan E., Garcia, Julio, Cohen, Geoffrey L.·2013·Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

DOI 10.1177/0146167213480816

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Abstract

Two experiments examined for the first time whether the specific content of participant-generated affirmation essays-in particular, writing about social belonging-facilitated an affirmation intervention's ability to reduce identity threat among negatively stereotyped students. Study 1, a field experiment, revealed that seventh graders assigned to a values-affirmation condition wrote about social belonging more than those assigned to a control condition. Writing about belonging, in turn, improved the grade point average (GPA) of Black, but not White students. In Study 2, using a modified "belonging-affirmation" intervention, we directly manipulated writing about social belonging before a math test described as diagnostic of math ability. The more female participants wrote about belonging, the better they performed, while there was no effect of writing about belonging for males. Writing about social belonging improved performance only for members of negatively stereotyped groups. Implications for self-affirmation theory and practice are discussed.

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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 Shnabel, Purdie-Vaughns, Cook, Garcia, & Cohen, 2013
People often affirm themselves by writing about their connections to other people and to purposes and projects outside themselves.
“As Table 1 also illustrates, people often affirm themselves by writing about their connections to other people and to purposes and projects outside themselves (Shnabel et al. 2013; see also Crocker et al. 2008).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Shnabel et al. 2013
Many affirmation essays focus on unconditional sources of integrity, often from social relationships.
“Indeed, many affirmation essays focus on unconditional sources of integrity, often from social relationships (Crocker et al. 2008, Shnabel et al. 2013).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Shnabel et al. 2013

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“For example, there is evidence that affirmations may be particularly effective when they describe or emphasize belonging socially (Shnabel et al., 2013).”
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“Another response to such threat is self-affirmation (Sherman & Cohen, 2006; Steele, 1988): Reflecting on one’s values or attributes helps deflect negative effects of threat (Sherman et al., 2014; Shnabel et al., 2013; von Hippel, Wiryakusuma, Bowden, & Shochet, 2011).”
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“Moreover, broader representations of self may allow for more opportunities to forge meaningful relationships with others and promote prosocial behaviors (Crocker et al., 2008; Lindsay & Creswell, 2014; Shnabel et al., 2013).”
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“For instance, Shnabel et al. (2013) note that social belongingness improves the situation of the members of negatively stereotyped groups.”
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“Often these affirmation exercises do not directly influence nonthreatened groups, such as White or Asian students, but do bolster achievement and self-concept for under-represented and stereotyped groups such as Black and Latino students (Borman, Grigg and Hanselman 2016; Shnabel et al. 2013).”
Background

Authors: Shnabel, N., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Cook, J. E., Garcia, J., & Cohen, G. L.
Affiliations: Tel Aviv University (IL)
Columbia University (US)
University of Colorado Boulder (US)
Stanford University (US)
ORCID: Shnabel, Nurit
Cook, Jonathan E.
Garcia, Julio
Cohen, Geoffrey L.
Venue: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2013-03-10
Volume: 39
Issue: 5
Pages: 663-676
ISSN: 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
1552-7433
DOI: 10.1177/0146167213480816
OpenAlex: W1982130740
Cited by: 166
References: 66
Citations by year: 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5
FWCI: 39.24
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Science Foundation
Yale University
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
Keywords: self-affirmation theory, social belonging, identity threat, Black students, gender differences, mathematics achievement, stereotype threat
MeSH terms: Black or African American, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Male, Self Concept, Social Identification, Social Perception, Socioeconomic Factors, Stereotyping, Students, Writing, Logistic Models, White People

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Demystifying Values-Affirmation Interventions: Writing About Social Belonging Is a Key to Buffering Against Identity Threat

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