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A Values-Affirmation Intervention Does Not Benefit Negatively Stereotyped Immigrant Students in the Netherlands
Elisabeth M de Jong1, Francine C Jellesma1, Helma M Y Koomen1
1Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Psychology
|June 1, 2016
Summary
A values-affirmation intervention, previously effective in the US, did not reduce the achievement gap or problem behavior in Dutch ethnic minority students. Contextual and cultural differences may explain this lack of generalization.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Education
- Sociology
Background:
- A values-affirmation intervention successfully reduced the achievement gap between African American and European American students in the US.
- An analogous achievement gap exists in the Netherlands between native and ethnic minority students, often of Turkish-Dutch or Moroccan-Dutch backgrounds.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the values-affirmation intervention's positive effects on academic achievement generalize to ethnic minority students in the Netherlands.
- To examine the intervention's impact on school achievement and problem behavior among ethnic minority youth in a non-US context.
- To explore the influence of a teaching assistant's involvement in the intervention process.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted with first-year pre-vocational students (n=361, 84% ethnic minority) and sixth graders (n=290, 96% ethnic minority).
- Participants were primarily of Turkish-Dutch or Moroccan-Dutch immigrant backgrounds.
- A modified intervention in the second study included a teaching assistant elaborating on affirmation or control exercises.
Main Results:
- Multilevel analyses indicated that the values-affirmation intervention had no significant effect on the school achievement of ethnic minority students.
- The intervention also did not lead to a reduction in problem behavior among these students.
- Contrary to expectations, the intervention did not generalize its previously observed positive effects to the Dutch context.
Conclusions:
- The values-affirmation intervention was not effective in reducing the achievement gap or problem behavior for ethnic minority students in the Netherlands.
- Contextual and cultural differences between the US and the Netherlands may explain the lack of intervention effectiveness.
- Further research is needed to understand the nuances of implementing such interventions in diverse cultural settings.
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