Identity-reframing Intervention Boosts Goal Pursuit Among Refugees, Low-SES-students, and Individuals With Depression

• In Event: New Advances in Asset-Based Interventions in Educational Settings

Abstract

Objective
Individuals who face adversity such as refugees, people living in poverty, or individuals contending with mental illnesses are often framed as weak and passive victims of the adversity they face. Such stigmatizing narratives may limit the extent to which these individuals can successfully pursue their goals in life. Aiming to invert such weakness-narratives, we developed an intervention that reframes the social identity of individuals in adverse positions as strong agents. This identity-reframing intervention does so by highlighting i) the strengths individuals have shown in contending with the adversity they face and ii) how these strengths can help them pursue their goals. Rather than aiming to buffer consequences of stigmatizing narratives (e.g., buffering students’ belonging uncertainty or experienced threat) as previous interventions have often done, identity-reframing aims to directly change stigmatizing narratives as the root problem. We investigated, if identity-reframing – i.e., inverting weakness-narratives and framing individuals in adverse positions as strong agents rather than weak victims – supports the successful goal pursuit of individuals in disadvantaged positions.

Methods
We tested this hypothesis in three large longitudinal randomized-controlled field-experiments, each with an active control condition, and two of them pre-registered, among three distinct populations and settings, within and outside of academia: refugees studying at an online-university in Germany (N=533), low-SES students studying at a traditional university in the US (N=470), and individuals with experiences of depression in diverse countries (N=166). Studies with refugee and low-SES students focused on students’ progress in academia, allowing us to test effects on objective outcomes: learning engagement and grades. In the depression context, we tested effects on individuals’ reported progress regarding self-described goals (e.g., completing a project at work or hobby; reaching out to friends), allowing us to test effects on goals important to individuals beyond the academic context.

Results
Across studies, the identity-reframing intervention supported individuals’ goal pursuit: it boosted the learning-engagement of refugees at their German online-university over one year, and improved the grades of low-SES students at their US-American traditional university over one semester. Identity-reframing also showed benefits outside of academia: It boosted the progress individuals with depression reported making towards a personal goal from 43% to 64%.

Conclusion
Results highlight how – for several distinct populations in distinct settings – baseline weakness-narratives create obstacles for individuals in disadvantaged positions to successfully pursue their goals in life. At the same time, this is not inevitable. Even brief interventions – if precisely targeted – can re-frame stigmatizing narratives in ways that support individuals in showing their strength.

Authors

• Christina Bauer, University of Vienna

• Veronika Job, University of Vienna

• Nicole M. Stephens, Northwestern University

• Gregory Mariotti Walton, Stanford University