Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-gr6zb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T22:00:31.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wise interventions consider the person and the situation together

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2023

Gregory M. Walton Open the ORCID record for Gregory M. Walton [Opens in a new window]  and
David S. Yeager Open the ORCID record for David S. Yeager [Opens in a new window]
Gregory M. Walton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA [email protected]; http://gregorywalton-stanford.weebly.com/
David S. Yeager
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA [email protected]; https://txbspi.prc.utexas.edu/
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Chater & Loewenstein (C&L) ignore the long history by which social scientists have developed more nuanced and ultimately more helpful ways to understand the relationship between persons and situations. This tradition is reflected and advanced in a large literature on “wise” social–psychological or mindset interventions, which C&L do not discuss yet mischaracterize.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e179
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, D. H., Duncan, G. J., Cunha, F., Foorman, B. R., & Yeager, D. S. (2020). Persistence and fade-out of educational-intervention effects: Mechanisms and potential solutions. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 21(2), 55–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100620915848CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1992). Ecological systems theory. In Vasta, R. (Ed.), Six theories of child development: Revised formulations and current issues (pp. 187–249). Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar
Bryan, C. J., Tipton, E., & Yeager, D. S. (2021). Behavioural science is unlikely to change the world without a heterogeneity revolution. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(8), 980–989. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01143-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coleman, J. S. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. U.S. Department of Health, Education.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. (1994). Foundations of social theory. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Leslie, S.-J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science (New York, N.Y.), 347(6219), 262–265. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261375CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers (Edited by Dorwin Cartwright.) (pp. xx, 346). Harpers.Google Scholar
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (2010). Cultures and selves: A cycle of mutual constitution. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 420–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610375557CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mertens, S., Herberz, M., Hahnel, U. J., & Brosch, T. (2022). The effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 119(1), e2107346118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murrar, S., Campbell, M. R., & Brauer, M. (2020). Exposure to peers’ pro-diversity attitudes increases inclusion and reduces the achievement gap. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(9), 889–897. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0899-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okonofua, J. A., Goyer, J. P., Lindsay, C. A., Haugabrook, J., & Walton, G. M. (2022). A scalable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions. Science Advances, 8(12), eabj0691. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj0691CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okonofua, J. A., Paunesku, D., & Walton, G. M. (2016). Brief intervention to encourage empathic discipline cuts suspension rates in half among adolescents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 113(19), 5221–5226. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523698113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rattan, A., Good, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). “It's ok – Not everyone can be good at math”: Instructors with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3), 731–737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.12.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (1991). The person and the situation: Perspectives of social psychology. Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Szaszi, B., Higney, A., Charlton, A., Gelman, A., Ziano, I., Aczel, B., … Tipton, E. (2022). No reason to expect large and consistent effects of nudge interventions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 119(31), e2200732119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2200732119CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tipton, E., Bryan, C., Murray, J., McDaniel, M., Schneider, B., & Yeager, D. S. (in press). Why meta-analyses of growth mindset and other interventions should follow best practices for examining heterogeneity. Psychological Bulletin.Google Scholar
Trzesniewski, K., Yeager, D., Catalán Molina, D., Claro, S., Oberle, C., & Murphy, M. (2021). Global mindset initiative paper 3: Measuring growth mindset classroom cultures (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. 3911591). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3911591CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walton, G. M., Murphy, M. M., Logel, C., Yeager, D. S., Goyer, J. P., Brady, S. T., … Krol, N. (2023). Where and with whom does a brief social-belonging intervention promote progress in college? Science, 380, 499–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walton, G. M., Okonofua, J. A., Remington Cunningham, K., Hurst, D., Pinedo, A., Weitz, E., … Eberhardt, J. L. (2021). Lifting the bar: A relationship-orienting intervention reduces recidivism among children reentering school from juvenile detention. Psychological Science, 32(11), 1747–1767. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211013801CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walton, G. M., & Wilson, T. D. (2018). Wise interventions: Psychological remedies for social and personal problems. Psychological Review, 125(5), 617. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000115CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walton, G. M., & Yeager, D. S. (2020). Seed and soil: Psychological affordances in contexts help to explain where wise interventions succeed or fail. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(3), 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420904453CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, T. D. (2006). The power of social psychological interventions. Science (New York, N.Y.), 313(5791), 1251–1252. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1133017CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeager, D. S., Carroll, J. M., Buontempo, J., Cimpian, A., Woody, S., Crosnoe, R., … Dweck, C. S. (2022). Teacher mindsets help explain where a growth-mindset intervention does and doesn't work. Psychological Science, 33(1), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211028984CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., … Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature, 573(7774), 364–369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Social–psychological interventions in education: They're not magic. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 267–301. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311405999CrossRefGoogle Scholar