Abstract
Common sense suggests that people struggling to achieve their goals benefit from receiving motivational advice. What if the reverse is true? In a preregistered field experiment, we tested whether giving motivational advice raises academic achievement for the advisor. We randomly assigned n = 1,982 high school students to a treatment condition, in which they gave motivational advice (e.g., how to stop procrastinating) to younger students, or to a control condition. Advice givers earned higher report card grades in both math and a self-selected target class over an academic quarter. This psychologically wise advice-giving nudge, which has relevance for policy and practice, suggests a valuable approach to improving achievement: one that puts people in a position to give.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 14808-14810 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Volume | 116 |
| Issue number | 30 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 23 2019 |
Funding
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the Character Lab Research Network and the Behavior Change for Good Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania for making this research possible. For feedback and assistance on the manuscript, we thank David Yeager, Bob Gallop, Yeji Park, Amanda Geiser, Aneesh Rai, Lauri Bonacorsi, Joseph Kay, Predrag Pandiloski, and Michelle Shih. L.E.-W. extends special thanks to Ari Lustig, her favorite advisor. This research was supported by the University of Pennsylvania’s Behavior Change for Good Initiative, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the College Board, Character Lab, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Bezos Family Foundation, the Glenn Greenberg and Linda Vester Foundation, Marc J. Leder, the Overdeck Family Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation. We thank the Character Lab Research Network and the Behavior Change for Good Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania for making this research possible. For feedback and assistance on the manuscript, we thank David Yeager, Bob Gallop, Yeji Park, Amanda Geiser, Aneesh Rai, Lauri Bonacorsi, Joseph Kay, Predrag Pandiloski, and Michelle Shih. L.E.-W. extends special thanks to Ari Lustig, her favorite advisor. This research was supported by the University of Pennsylvania?s Behavior Change for Good Initiative, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the College Board, Character Lab, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Bezos Family Foundation, the Glenn Greenberg and Linda Vester Foundation, Marc J. Leder, the Overdeck Family Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation.
Keywords
- Achievement
- Advice
- Education
- Motivation
- Nudge
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
