Possible selves and academic outcomes: How and when possible selves impel action.
Puzzled by the gap between academic attainment and academic possible selves (APSs) among low-income and minority teens, the authors hypothesized that APSs alone are not enough unless linked with plausible strategies, made to feel like "true" selves and connected with social identity. A brief intervention to link APSs with strategies, create a context in which social and personal identities felt congruent, and change the meaning associated with difficulty in pursuing APSs (n = 141 experimental, n = 123 control low-income 8th graders) increased success in moving toward APS goals: academic initiative, standardized test scores, and grades improved; and depression, absences, and in-school misbehavior declined. Effects were sustained over a 2-year follow-up and were mediated by change in possible selves.
Oyserman
Daphna
D
The Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA. daphna.oyserman@umich.edu
Bybee
Deborah
D
Terry
Kathy
K
D000293:Adolescent; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D010553:Personality Development; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D011340:Problem Solving; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D012933:Social Identification