This award was provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Amanda Diekman at Indiana University, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist investigating the psychological effects of poverty on decision-making in academic contexts. Theory suggests that resource scarcity and environmental unpredictability (characteristic of poverty) trigger a narrow focus on the present at the expense of attention to the future. Although this phenomenon is adaptive under many circumstances, academic success requires focus on long-term goals, such as attaining good end-of-term grades, graduating, and being competitive for college admissions. This project addresses how shifted perceptions of time, prompted by socioeconomic conditions, might be one contributing factor to the pervasive achievement gap between students of low and high income backgrounds. This work contributes not only to theoretical understanding of the psychological effects of poverty, but because time perception is malleable, it also offers potential avenues to reduce income-achievement gaps in the U.S.
Using survey methods, Phase I examines the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescents? perceptions of time (i.e., how distant the future is), valuation of time spent pursuing academic goals, and prioritization of short-term versus long term rewards. A central question is whether these indicators of a present-focus account, in part, for SES differences in academic achievement. The project also examines the unique effect of household conditions (e.g., crowding, foot traffic, lack of routine) versus overall SES effects on time perceptions, consistent with ecological models of adolescent development. Phase II of this project aims to test interventions that might mitigate the effects of SES on time perceptions. These include person-level interventions that make the future appear closer and structural interventions that change the way classrooms discuss, model, and manage time for students. Another goal of Phase II is to learn how the effects of SES on time perceptions impact participation in STEM. Given the long-term time investment required for many STEM careers (undergraduate degree, graduate degree, postdoc, tenure), STEM fields might be particularly unlikely to be favored by low-SES students. Perceived time investments for success in different occupations could intersect with SES differences in time perception to produce differential interest in these pathways. Using experimental approaches, these studies will investigate whether describing the same occupation as requiring different time investments narrows the SES gap in interest, intent, or behavioral engagement in those pathways.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
