Can Brief Psychological Interventions Make a Difference at Scale? A National Impact Study of Self-Affirmation

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Academic Achievement and Evidence-Based Practices (Table 35)

Abstract

We conducted a large-scale randomized controlled trial to test the impacts of receiving four brief self-affirming writing exercises designed to buffer students of color from negative stereotypes about the general academic underperformance of their racial/ethnic group. We replicated prior studies of the self-affirmation intervention across three independent seventh-grade cohorts in 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22. Here, we report results from the 2021-22 cohort—the first cohort of students to return to school after school closings due to the pandemic. In contrast to results from the prior two cohorts, we find evidence that self-affirmation reduced the number of failing grades potentially threatened Black and Latinx students received. Additional evidence confirms the impacts of the theorized mechanisms of self-affirmation.

Authors

• Geoffrey D. Borman, Arizona State University

• Trisha Borman, Measured Decisions, Inc.

• Cong Ye, American Institutes for Research

• Lauren Stargel, Curriculum Associates