Study: How culturally wise psychological interventions can help reduce poverty (10.1073/pnas.250569412)
Most poverty-fighting efforts focus on meeting basic material needs, such as food and shelter. But this overlooks the psychological and cultural factors that shape how people take action in their lives.
University of Michigan researchers found that psychosocial programs designed to support women's agency in Niger, West Africa, were effective in promoting women's economic empowerment when grounded in local values-such as social harmony, respectfulness and collective progress-but not a Western-style program grounded in individual ambition.
The new study highlights how culturally attuned approaches to empowerment can offer a powerful pathway for reducing global poverty. The research, published in the latest issue of PNAS, introduces a "culturally wise" approach: psychosocial programs that honor diverse worldviews and community values.
"Fighting poverty may require cultural wisdom, not just cash," said study lead author Catherine Thomas, U-M assistant professor of psychology and organizational studies.
The research involved three studies. The first described women's models of agency in rural Niger-showing an interdependent model of agency to be predominant; the second provided empirical support for these models-reflecting the importance of relational factors like social standing, in addition to personal factors like a sense of self-efficacy, as mechanisms of women's pathways out of poverty; and the third tested an evidence-supported Western psychological intervention and a "culturally wise" version to a control condition-finding only the "culturally wise" psychological intervention grounded in interdependence to improve women's economic advancement over one year."
The research offered several key findings:
- Poverty is multidimensional and, notably, can deplete people's psychological resources including their sense of agency. This research shows that accounting for such multidimensionality can enhance poverty reduction efforts, particularly by addressing social-psychological factors in addition to economic ones.
- Among low-income women in Niger, people's sense of agency-their ability to take action and shape their lives-is deeply interdependent, rooted in relationships and community values. It's expressed through maintaining social harmony, showing respect and supporting collective progress. This stands in contrast to the more independent model of agency common in Western cultures, which emphasizes personal drive, self-initiative and future-oriented goals.
- This research suggests that psychological theories and interventions developed in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) contexts may be insufficient for shifting behavior and improving life outcomes elsewhere. Here, "culturally wise" psychosocial interventions that aligned with local models of agency were effective in improving women's economic empowerment in Niger, but not evidence-supported psychological interventions developed in Western contexts.
The findings suggest that anti-poverty efforts in the U.S. could also seek to understand the goals and mental models of low-income recipients of aid in this country, Thomas said.
"I hope that this work provides a blueprint for doing so," she said.
Co-authors included Patrick Premand, Thomas Bossuroy, Soumaila Abdoulaye Sambo, Hazel Rose Markus and Gregory Walton.
