Topic

Wise Interventions

Study or Paper(s)

Walton, G. M. & Crum, A. J. (Eds.) (2020). Handbook of Wise Interventions: How Social Psychology Can Help People Change. Guilford Press: New York.

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.

​Walton, G. M. & Wilson, T. D. (2018). Wise interventions: Psychological remedies for social and personal problems. Psychological Review,
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Walton, G. M. (2014). The new science of wise psychological interventions. Current Directions in Psychological Science. ​​

News Coverage

Interview on wise interventions (Dutch) at ProgressFocused.com, February 16, 2021.

The Big Impact of Small Interventions with Stanford's Greg Walton. The Knowledge Project, Ep. #64, August 2019.

Brief wise interventions can change lives. January 31, 2019. David Myers blog post

Changing the way people perceive problems in their lives will help society too, Stanford scholar says. November 5, 2018. Stanford News.

Education: 
Social-Belonging

​Brady, S. T., Cohen, G. L., Jarvis, S. N., & Walton, G. M. (2020). A brief social-belonging intervention in college improves adult outcomes for Black Americans. Science Advances.

Murphy, M. C., Gopalan, M., Carter, E. R., Emerson, T. U., Bottoms, B. L., & Walton, G. M. (2020). A customized belonging intervention improves retention of socially disadvantaged students at a broad-access university. Science Advances. 
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Goyer, J. P., Cohen, G. L., Cook, J. E., Master, A., Apfel, N., Lee, W., Henderson, A. G., Reeves, S. L., Okonofua, J. A., & Walton, G. M. (2019). Targeted identity safety interventions cause lasting reductions in discipline citations among ethnic-minority boys. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Yeager, D. S.*, Walton, G. M.*, Brady, S. T., Akcinar, E. N., Paunesku, D., Keane, L., Kamentz, D., Ritter, G., Duckworth, A. L., Urstein, R., Gomez E., Markus, H. R. Cohen, G. L., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Teaching a lay theory before college narrows achievement gaps at scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
•The first two authors contributed equally to this work. 
​
Walton, G. M., Logel, C., Peach, J., Spencer, S, & Zanna, M. P.  (2015). Two brief interventions to mitigate a “chilly” climate transform women’s experience, relationships, and achievement in engineering. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Walton, G. M. & Cohen, G. L. (2011).  A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science.

Is believing in yourself enough? Growth mindset and social belonging interventions for postsecondary students. NCEE Blog: What Works Clearinghouse, January 3, 2022

Stop telling students, "You Belong!", Education Week, November 9, 2021
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Writing to belong. July 20, 2020. Inside Higher Ed. 

Exercise in a first-year writing course increases retention at broad-access universities. July 15, 2020. EurekAlert!

A simple exercise on belonging helps black college students years later. May 5, 2020. Science News.

College 'social belonging' intervention enhances career and life satisfaction among black young adults. April 29, 2020. Stanford Graduate School of Education Research Stories

Addressing black students' concerns about belonging in college has benefits in adulthood. April 29, 2020. Wake Forest News.

It's time to drop the 'sticks and stones' cliche and help kids cope with the pain of exclusion. November 19, 2019. Washington Post.

Stanford scholars develop interventions to reduce disparities in school discipline and support belonging among negatively stereotyped boys. April 3, 2019. Stanford News.

Stanford researchers explore how the human mind shapes reality. June 11, 2018. Stanford News.

A third of your freshmen disappear. How can you keep them? June 3, 2018. Chronicle of Higher Education.

Supporting students' sense of belonging. August 22, 2017. Mindset Scholars Network Blog.

The power of realistic expectations: Research shows a way to close a key achievement gap. September 19, 2016. Insights by Stanford Business.

Conquering the freshman fear of failure. August 20, 2016. The New York Times.

Diversity efforts fall short unless employees feel that they belong. August 10, 2016. Harvard Business Review.

A small fix in mind-set can keep students in school. June 16, 2016. The Wall Street Journal.

New research demonstrates how specific interventions can boost success of first generation and minority students in college. May 31, 2016. Stanford Graduate School of Education.

New research finds that forecasting common challenges for students in the transition to college can reduce inequality at institutional scale. May 30, 2016. College Transition Collaborative. 

Wising up: Throwing the right switch in your brain can solve even the biggest problems. March 12, 2016. New Scientist.

Who gets to graduate? May 15, 2014. The New York Times.

Belonging: The real culprit in the confidence gap. April 30, 2014. Huffington Post. 

New ways to fight ‘imposter fears’: ‘Stealthy’ intervention counters self-doubt. November 19 2013. The Wall Street Journal.

Why college freshmen may feel like impostors on campus. October 16, 2013. www.NPR.org.

The importance of belonging. June 1, 2012. CNN.com/health.

The value of “values affirmation.” May, 2012. Stanford: Graduate School of Business.

Can brief interventions help reduce achievement gapsMarch/April, 2012. Harvard Education Letter.

Closing the achievement gap September, 2011. Monitor on Psychology.

A 1-hour fix for the racial achievement gap? April 24, 2011. Los Angeles Times.

Reassurance about college transition raises black students’ GPA’s, Stanford Psychologists Say. March 18, 2011. Chronicle of Higher Education.

Belonging matters: How researchers can halve the race gap in GPA. March 18, 2011. Time.com.

One-hour confidence exercise can boost GPA, study finds. March 17, 2011. Education Week.

Got an hour? Boost your grades.  Stanford psychologists design 60-minute exercise that raises GPAs of minority students March 17, 2011. Stanford Report.

Education: 
Growth-Mindsets of Intelligence and Interest; Purpose

Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Tipton, E., Schneider, B., Hulleman, C. S., Hinojosa, C. P., Paunesku, D., Romero, C., Flint, K., Roberts, A., Trott, J., Iachan, R., Buontempo, J., Hooper, S. Y., Carvalho, C., Hahn, R., Gopalan, M., Mhatre, P., Ferguson, R., Duckworth, A. L., & Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature.​

O’Keefe, P. A., Dweck, C. S. & Walton, G. M. (2018). Implicit theories of interest: Finding your passion or developing it? Psychological Science.

​Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., Romero, C. L., Smith, E. N., Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Mindset interventions are a scalable treatment for academic underperformance. Psychological Science.

Yeager, D. S., Henderson, M., D’Mello, S., Paunesku, D. Walton, G. M., Spitzer, B. J., & Duckworth, A. L. (2014). Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Is believing in yourself enough? Growth mindset and social belonging interventions for postsecondary students. NCEE Blog: What Works Clearinghouse, January 3, 2022

Changing students' mindsets about learning improves their grades, Stanford researchers find. August 7, 2019. Stanford News.

Why 'find your passion' is such bad advice. April 21, 2019. New York Times.

Having a growth mindset makes it easier to develop new interests. September 10, 2018. Harvard Business Review.  

Ethical college admissions: Student passions and college choices. August 27, 2018. Inside Higher Ed.

Why 'find your passion' is bad advice. August 17, 2018. The Seattle Times. 

​'Find your passion'? That's bad advice, scientists say. July 23, 2018. The Washington Post.

'Find your passion' is awful advice. July 12, 2018. The Atlantic.

Dweck, Walton find developing current passions more effective than searching for one's true passion. July 12, 2018. The Stanford Daily.

Stanford researchers: 'Follow your passion' advice could make you less successful. June 22, 2018. CNBC.

Instead of 'finding your passion,' try developing it, Stanford scholars say. June 18, 2018. Stanford News

Online 'mindset' interventions help students do better in school, Stanford research shows. April 27, 2015. Stanford News.

Researchers discover useful technique to instill 'sense of purpose' in struggling students. April 27, 2015. National Monitor.

How a bigger purpose can motivate students to learn? August 18, 2014. KQED.org.

Education: 
Test Bias and Affirmative Action

Erman, S. & Walton, G. M. (2015). Stereotype threat and anti-discrimination law: Affirmative steps to promote meritocracy and racial equality. Southern California Law Review.

Walton, G. M., Spencer, S. J., & Erman, S. (2013). Affirmative meritocracy. Social Issues and Policy Review.
•Click here for the Policy Summary.


Walton, G. M. & Spencer, S. J. (2009). Latent ability: Grades and test scores systematically underestimate the intellectual ability of negatively stereotyped students.  Psychological Science.

Why we're wrong about affirmative action: Stereotypes, testing and the 'soft bigotry of low expectations.  July 28, 2014. Huffington Post.
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What your test scores don’t say about you. March 20, 2009, Macleans.

Study shows negative assumptions can bring down test scores. February 25, 2009. KCBS San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose.

The impact of negative stereotypes. February 25, 2009. Inside Higher Ed.

Education is all in your mind. February 7, 2009. The New York Times.

How a self-fulfilling stereotype can drag down performance. February 2, 2009. The Washington Post.
​

Education: Conflict and discipline in school

Okonofua, J. A., Goyer, J. P., Lindsay, C. A., Haugabrook, J., & Walton, G. M. (2022). A scaleable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions. Science Advances​.

​Walton, G. M., Okonofua, J. A., Remington, K. S., Hurst, D., Pinedo, A., Weitz, E., Ospina, J. P., Tate, H., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2021). Lifting the bar: A relationship-orienting intervention reduces recidivism among children reentering school from juvenile detention. Psychological Science.
​
Goyer, J. P., Cohen, G. L., Cook, J. E., Master, A., Apfel, N., Lee, W., Henderson, A. G., Reeves, S. L., Okonofua, J. A., & Walton, G. M. (2019). Targeted identity safety interventions cause lasting reductions in discipline citations among ethnic-minority boys. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
​
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 United States of America.

Okonofua, J. A., Walton, G. M., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2016). A vicious cycle: A social-psychological account of extreme racial disparities in school discipline.  Perspectives on Psychological Science.

How to decrease suspensions: Here's what new research shows. With Jason Okonofua. Education Week, May 18, 2022

How to cut disparities in school suspension rates. With Jason Okonofua. Psychology Today. April 26, 2022

Empathy softens teachers' biases, cuts racial gap in student suspensions. Berkeley News, March 23, 2022

When a "small" change mitigates bias, with Jason Okonofua, Character & Context, January 26, 2022. 

The one-page letter that keeps kids out of jail, with Hattie Tate Psychology Today, January 10, 2022

Fostering student-teacher connections could help keep students returning from juvenile detention in school. Observations, December 14, 2021

​One letter to a teacher helps formerly jailed kids stay on track. The Imprint, October 20, 2021.

Stanford study finds why writing a letter to a teacher can turn around the lives of some students. EdSource, October 19, 2021.

How to break the juvenile detention cycle: New research shows a way, with Jason Okonofua and Katie Remington Cunningham, Education Week, October 13 2021.

Keeping kids in school and out of trouble: Pilot program tested in Oakland schools shows success. October 6, 2021. ABC7 News.
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Stanford researchers develop an intervention that cuts recidivism among children reentering school from the justice system. October 5, 2021. Stanford News.

Stanford scholars develop interventions to reduce disparities in school discipline and support belonging among negatively stereotyped boys. April 3, 2019. Stanford News.

Don't suspend students. Empathize. September 3, 2017. The New York Times.

Empathy, Technology, and How to Reduce School Suspensions by 50%.  July 2016. EdSUrge On Air.

A small fix in mind-set can keep students in school. June 16, 2016. The Wall Street Journal. 

​The key to reducing school suspensions? Treat kids with empathy, says study. May 12, 2016, The Huffington Post.

Teacher empathy improves learning. May 11, 106. ​The Onion.

​A teacher intervention program can help to reduce school suspensions. May 9, 2016, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Amplifying empathy in teachers can help prevent student suspensions, researchers find. May 9, 2016, Newsworks.

Focusing on empathy, not punishment, improves discipline. May 6, 2016, Education News.

​Dealing with rowdy students? Try making their teachers more empathetic. April 29, 2016, Pacific Standard.

Empathy is a valuable teaching tool. April 27, 2016, San Francisco Chronicle.

Can an increase in empathy lead to a drop in suspensions? April 27, 2016, Education Week.

Teacher empathy reduces student suspensions, Stanford research shows. April 26, 2016, Stanford News.

To reduce student suspensions, teachers should try being more empathetic. April 25, 2016, Science.

Willpower/self-regulation

Job, V., Walton, G. M., Bernecker, K., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Implicit theories about willpower predict self-regulation and grades in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Job, V. Walton, G. M., Bernecker, K., & Dweck, C. S. (2013). Beliefs about willpower determine the impact of glucose on self-control. Proceedings of the National Academy of the United States of America.

Job, V., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2010). Ego depletion--Is it all in your head?: Implicit theories about willpower affect self-regulation .  Psychological Science.

Sometimes a failure to replicate a study isn't a failure at all. December 16, 2018. Science News.

Willpower is in your mind, not in a sugar cube, say Stanford Scholars. August 27, 2013. Stanford News.

The Colin McEnroe Show: Willpower. January 9, 2012.

Willpower: It’s in your head. November 26, 2011. The New York Times.

Upping your new year’s resolution odds. January 3, 2011. Los Angeles Times.

It matters whether you believe in willpower. December 10, 2010. Psychology Today.

Researchers shine light on willpower. October 25, 2010. Stanford Daily.

Need a study break to refresh?  Maybe not, say Stanford researchers. October 14, 2010. Stanford Report.

Social Norms

Howe, L. C., Carr, P., & Walton, G. M. (2021). Normative appeals motivate people to contribute to collective action problems more when they invite people to work together toward a common cause. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Sparkman, G., Howe, L., & Walton. G. M. (2020). How social norms are often a barrier to addressing climate change but can be part of the solution. Behavioural Public Policy.

Sparkman, G., Weitz, E., Robinson, T. N., Malhotra, N., & Walton, G. M. (2020). Developing a scalable dynamic norm menu-based intervention to reduce meat consumption. Sustainability.

Sparkman, G. & Walton, G. M. (2019). Witnessing change: Dynamic norms help resolve diverse barriers to personal change. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Sparkman, G. & Walton, G. M. (2017). Dynamic norms promote sustainable behavior, even if it is counternormative. Psychological Science.

Using "dynamic norms" on menus to make change. December 16, 2021. Faunalytics.

​Changing behaviors may be easier when people see norms as changing, Stanford research finds. October 6, 2017. Stanford Report.

Why social change is contagious. June 3, 2019. Character & Context.

Civic behavior

Howe, L. C., Carr, P., & Walton, G. M. (2021). Normative appeals motivate people to contribute to collective action problems more when they invite people to work together toward a common cause. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Bryan, C. J., Walton, G. M, Rogers, T. & Dweck, C. S. (2011). Motivating voter turnout by invoking the self. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Stanford researchers find that a simple change in phrasing can increase voter turnout. July 19, 2011. Stanford Report.

WOW! Simple wording change dramatically increases voter turnout. July 19, 2011. dailykos.com

The power of nouns -- tiny word change increases voter turnout. July 16, 2011. Discover Magazine.

Intergroup relationships

Sanchez, K. L., Kalkstein, D. A., & Walton, G. M.  (2021). A threatening opportunity: The prospect of conversations about race-related experiences between Black and White friends. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 

​Thomas, C. C., Otis, N. G., Abraham, J., Markus, H. R., & Walton, G. M. (2020). Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 

Brannon, T. N. & Walton, G. M. (2013). Enacting cultural interests: How intergroup contact reduces prejudice by sparking interest in an out-group’s culture. Psychological Science. 

Are cross-race friendships really a panacea for interracial relations? January 28, 2022. Character & Context.

The top 10 insights from the "science of a meaningful life" in 2021. December 16, 2021. Greater Good Magazine.

Conversations about race between Black and white friends feel risky, but are valuable, Stanford psychologists find. September 20, 2021. Stanford News. 

​'Poverty alleviation' and 'needy?' Why words can do more harm than good when offering help, Stanford study finds. June 25, 2020. Stanford News. 

Stanford study: Participation in a cultural activity may reduce prejudice. August 22, 2013. Stanford News. 

Engaging in a brief cultural activity can reduce implicit prejudice. August 22, 2013. Association for Psychological Science

To reduce prejudice, try sharing passions and cultures. August 23, 2013. National Public Radio

Mere belonging/ Feelings of working together

Howe, L. C., Carr, P., & Walton, G. M. (2021). Normative appeals motivate people to contribute to collective action problems more when they invite people to work together toward a common cause. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

​Carr, P. B. & Walton, G. M. (2014). Cues of working together fuel intrinsic motivation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Walton, G. M., Cohen, G. L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S. J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Cwir, D., Carr, P. B., Walton, G. M., & Spencer, S. J. (2011). Your heart makes my heart move: Cues of social connectedness cause shared emotions and physiological states among strangers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Feeling like a part of the team can fuel your work motivation. September 16, 2014.
Lifehacker.

Stanford research shows that working together boosts motivation. September 15, 2014. Stanford News.

Why do we form social connections so easily with people who like the same bizarre things we like? February 23, 2011, www.scienceandreligiontoday.com.

Why a brief encounter can be just as profound as a lifetime together. February 13, 2011. Daily Mail.

Common interests create connections. February 13, 2011. MSNBC.com

Cupid can help, but you’ll have better luck with a valentine if you have a few things in common. February 11 2011. Stanford Report.

Close relationships

Sanchez, K. L., Kalkstein, D. A., & Walton, G. M.  (2021). A threatening opportunity: The prospect of conversations about race-related experiences between Black and White friends. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 

​Finkel, E. J., Slotter, E. B., Luchies, L. B., Walton, G. M., & Gross, J. J. (2013). A brief intervention to promote conflict reappraisal preserves marital quality over time. Psychological Science.

Conversations about race between Black and white friends feel risky, but are valuable, Stanford psychologists find. September 20, 2021. Stanford News. 

Save your teens, save your marriage: Stanford’s brief interventions. February 22, 2013. Stanford Report. 

Dear Valentine, I hate it when you . . . . February 8, 2013. The New York Times. 

21 minutes to marital satisfaction. February 5, 2013. Northwestern News.