How culturally wise psychological interventions can help reduce poverty.

ABSTRACT: Poverty is characterized by multidimensional economic, social, and psychological constraints that undermine people's agency to pursue new opportunities and shape their life outcomes. How can interventions best support the agency of low-income individuals and, in so doing, boost poverty-reduction efforts? We theorize and find that agency interventions are effective when designed to be "culturally wise," i.e., attuned to the model of agency predominant in a cultural context. Focusing on low-income women in rural Niger, Study 1 finds that local mental models of economic success primarily reflect interdependence, grounded in relational factors like advancing social harmony, respectfulness, and collective benefits. As evidenced by data from a United States sample, this contrasts with a more ind

SUBMITTER: Thomas CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12646240 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature