Abstract
We newly apply the concept of self-affirmation typically used in the domain of health and education to the domain of parenting. Recruiting parents of children age 13 or younger (n = 1,044), we test how eliciting positive self-concept affects interest in receiving parenting materials and participating in a parenting program. We find that an adapted, pride-based written self-affirmation exercise increased parents’ positive self-concept and their interest in parenting programs and resources, particularly among parents with a high baseline fear of judgment associated with seeking help. Implications for applying insights from psychology as a strategy to mitigate fear of judgment to optimize participation in an evidence-based parenting program at scale are discussed.
Highlights
Self-affirmations are self-generated thoughts or experiences that bring about an expanded and positive view of the self and can reduce resistance to situations perceived as threatening (Steele, 1988; McQueen and Klein, 2006; Sherman and Cohen, 2006)
The current study addresses these research questions: How does a pride-based self-affirmation exercise affect parent interest in parenting programs and resources? How does it affect hypothesized mediating outcomes? How does it differ for mothers versus fathers, for parents of younger children versus older children (6 to 13 years), for families with lower versus higher income, by race and ethnicity, and by existing fear of judgment about seeking help with parenting?
We tested the impact of a pride-based self-affirmation via a randomized design with a sample of parents of children age 13 or younger recruited through an online platform and found substantial increases in parents’ interest in learning more and participating in parenting programs among parents who received the self-affirmation compared with those who received a neutral writing prompt
Summary
Self-affirmations are self-generated thoughts or experiences that bring about an expanded and positive view of the self and can reduce resistance to situations perceived as threatening (Steele, 1988; McQueen and Klein, 2006; Sherman and Cohen, 2006). Self-affirmation exercises typically solicit reflection from the respondent through various writing exercises (McQueen and Klein, 2006). They have been shown effective across contexts including academic performance of historically marginalized student groups (Cohen et al, 2006), achievement of women in STEM courses (Miyake et al, 2010), and adolescents’ prosocial behavior (Thomaes et al, 2012). Information, and programming support is an increasingly popular model for promoting child development. Fear of judgment can reduce parents’ openness to receiving information and education about their parenting and can decrease their willingness to participate (Koertig et al, 2013; Mytton et al, 2014), thereby reducing the intended family-level and community-level impacts of public investments in early education initiatives
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