Publication:
How Culturally Wise Psychological Interventions Help Reduce Poverty

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dc.contributor.authorThomas, Catherine
dc.contributor.authorPremand, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorBossuroy, Thomas
dc.contributor.authorAbdoulaye Sambo, Soumaila
dc.contributor.authorMarkus, Hazel
dc.contributor.authorWalton, Gregory
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-28T16:25:09Z
dc.date.available2024-06-28T16:25:09Z
dc.date.issued2024-06-28
dc.description.abstractPoverty is multidimensional, associated not only with a lack of financial resources, but also often social-psychological constraints, such as diminished agency and aspirations. Through a series of field experiments, this paper assesses the causal impacts of culturally wise interventions designed to build women’s agency on poverty reduction efforts in rural Niger. Moreover, the study identifies a model of agency that is “culturally wise” because it is the most motivational and functional in the study cultural context. Study 1 reports descriptive evidence that an interdependent model of agency—that is grounded in social harmony, respect, and collective advancement and that accounts for relational affordances for individual goals—is predominant in rural Niger. This stands in contrast to a more self-oriented, independent model grounded in personal aspirations, self-direction, and self-advancement that is more common in the West. Study 2 explores the psychosocial mechanisms of a highly effective, multifaceted poverty reduction program that included two psychosocial interventions—a community sensitization and a life skills training, which incorporated both models of agency. Although the results support the role of intrapersonal processes (including enhanced self-efficacy and optimistic future expectations) in driving economic impacts, there is equal, if not greater, support for relational processes (including increased subjective social standing, control over earnings, and social support). Study 3 conducts a mechanism experiment to disentangle the causal effects of interventions grounded in independent agency (“personal initiative”) or interdependent agency (“interpersonal initiative”). The results show that the interdependent agency intervention, which is considered to be most “culturally wise,” led to significant effects on economic outcomes as well as both intrapersonal and relational processes. By contrast, the independent agency intervention showed impacts on intrapersonal processes alone. These findings show the promise of an emerging area of research at the intersection of behavioral science, cultural psychology, and development economics for addressing complex global problems like poverty and inequality.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099025506262410295/IDU18c0fc4c619919149d8196051fa2f59845124
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10824
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/41797
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWashington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper; 10824
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectPOVERTY
dc.subjectBEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
dc.subjectPSYCHOLOGY
dc.subjectCULTURE
dc.subjectAGENCY
dc.subjectGRADUATION
dc.subjectECONOMIC INCLUSION
dc.subjectPSYCHOSOCIAL
dc.subjectNO POVERTY
dc.subjectSDG 1
dc.subjectGOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
dc.subjectSDG 3
dc.subjectDECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
dc.subjectSDG 8
dc.titleHow Culturally Wise Psychological Interventions Help Reduce Povertyen
dc.typeWorking Paper
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.associatedcontenthttps://reproducibility.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/214 Link to reproducibility package
okr.crossref.titleHow Culturally Wise Psychological Interventions Help Reduce Poverty
okr.date.disclosure2024-06-28
okr.date.lastmodified2024-06-25T00:00:00Zen
okr.doctypePolicy Research Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099025506262410295/IDU18c0fc4c619919149d8196051fa2f59845124
okr.guid099025506262410295
okr.identifier.docmidIDU-8c0fc4c6-9919-49d8-9605-fa2f59845124
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10824
okr.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-10824
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum34349679
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum34349679
okr.identifier.reportWPS10824
okr.import.id4607
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099025506262410295/pdf/IDU18c0fc4c619919149d8196051fa2f59845124.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeAfrica Western and Central (AFW)
okr.region.countryNiger
okr.sectorPublic Administration - Social Protection,Social Protection
okr.themeSocial Safety Nets,Social Protection,Social Development and Protection,Environment and Natural Resource Management,Finance for Development,Finance,Climate change,Adaptation,Disaster Risk Finance
okr.topicMacroeconomics and Economic Growth::Economic Growth
okr.topicSocial Development::Psychology
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Social Protections & Assistance
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Poverty Reduction Strategies
okr.unitSocial Protection & Labor AFR 2 (HAWS2)
relation.isAuthorOfPublication5a231532-1560-50a9-bcf7-6e4cd6e3ec2c
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery5a231532-1560-50a9-bcf7-6e4cd6e3ec2c
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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