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Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction PS-I: A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
The promise of a better group future: Cognitive alternatives increase students' self-efficacy and academic
Aarti Iyer1, Airong Zhang2,3, Jolanda Jetten3
1Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK.
Abstract:
Drawing on classic social identity theorizing (Tajfel, Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations, London, UK, Academic Press, 1978), we propose that low-status minority group members' self-efficacy and performance on intellectual tasks can be enhanced by prompting them to believe in a better future for their group (i.e., increasing awareness of cognitive alternatives to the existing low-status position). Study 1 manipulated cognitive alternatives among 157 migrant workers' children in China, showing that self-efficacy was enhanced in the high compared to the low cognitive alternative condition. Study 2 extended this experimental finding among 114 migrant workers' children: Participants in the high cognitive alternative condition performed better on mathematics and attention tasks than did participants in the low cognitive alternative condition. Results highlight the power of believing in a better future for the collective as a means of enhancing self-efficacy and educational outcomes among members of disadvantaged groups.
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