Socioeconomic status relates to parent-child temporal preferences and predicts academic achievement

• In Event: The role of affirming high quality experiences on children's wellbeing and learning

Abstract

Academic achievement is strongly tied to socioeconomic status (SES) in the U.S. Wealthier students perform better in school, graduate from high school at higher rates, and are more likely to enroll in college (Bailey & Dynarski, 2011; Hernandez, 2012; Kena et al., 2016). Resource disparities are part of the problem, but they may not be the only factor driving achievement gaps. Evidence from research in behavioral economics and psychology suggests that poverty may change how distant individuals perceive the future and how likely they are to prioritize future versus immediate rewards (Callan, Shead, & Olson, 2011; Haushofer & Fehr, 2014). Theoretically, this focus away from the future and towards the present is an adaptive mechanism that helps individuals meet current needs. Nonetheless, educational contexts require pursuit of long-term goals. This study (N =202) examined whether lower SES among adolescents is associated with perceiving the future as more distant and prioritizing immediate rather than larger delayed rewards. We investigated whether this relation partly explains SES differences in academic achievement.

Adolescents and their parents completed an online survey that contained measures of SES, time horizon (how distant the future seems), temporal preferences (e.g., $10 now vs. $30 later), educational aspirations and expectations, college and work preparatory behaviors, and questions regarding demographic information. End-of-term GPA and attendance records were obtained from schools at the end of the semester.

The results indicated that lower SES is not associated with adolescents’ perceptions of how distant the future is, but it is associated with a stronger preference for immediate rather than larger delayed rewards. This relation partly explained SES differences in academic achievement (see Figure 1). A secondary aim was to explore the extent to which parents’ perceptions of the future and their preferences for immediate versus delayed rewards relate to these same constructs in adolescents. The findings suggest that parents’ preferences for immediate versus delayed rewards predict similar preferences in adolescents. In fact, when accounting for parents’ temporal preferences, the effect of SES on adolescents’ preferences becomes non-significant. Instead, SES indirectly predicts adolescents’ temporal preferences through the preferences of their parents (see Figure 2). The indirect effect extends to academic achievement. The results highlight the importance of considering parent-child dyads when examining the psychological effects of SES and their consequences for educational disparities.

Authors

• Heidi A. Vuletich, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Presenting Author

• Beth E Kurtz-Costes, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author

• B. Keith Payne, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author