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The Strengths of People in Poverty

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Daniel Nettle

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2019.On average, psychological variables are often statistically different in people living in poverty compared with people living in affluence. The default academic response to this pattern is often the deficit model: Poverty damages or impairs brain function, which leads to poor performance that only exacerbates the poverty. Deficits and damage are real phenomena. However, there are also other processes: People living in poverty may have made reasonable psychological responses to their circumstances or may have developed strengths that enhance their ability to cope with challenges in their lives. We illustrate these points by discussing the linked examples of time preference, early reproduction, and hidden talents. We argue for a balanced approach to the psychology of poverty that integrates deficit and strengths-based models. Future research could focus on the ways in which impairment and adaptation interact.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Frankenhuis WE, Nettle D

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Current Directions in Psychological Science

Year: 2020

Volume: 29

Issue: 1

Pages: 16-21

Print publication date: 01/02/2020

Online publication date: 18/10/2019

Acceptance date: 02/04/2019

Date deposited: 11/11/2019

ISSN (print): 0963-7214

ISSN (electronic): 1467-8721

Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419881154

DOI: 10.1177/0963721419881154

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