Collaborative Research: Testing the Stress-related Cyclical Nature of Metacognitive Sensitivity to Financial Standing

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project offers a novel analysis of what role stress plays in undermining the ability to improve one's educational, occupational, and financial standing. Experiencing stress as a function of one’s financial standing sets into motion a cycle that can inhibit economic mobility. This work examines causes and consequences that guide the contributing nature of socioeconomic status, and it tests ways to remove roadblocks to prosperity for all Americans. This project tests hypotheses related to a cyclical stress model, which proposes that stress induced by feeling of self-consciousness and sensitivity disrupts the very dispositions needed for upward social mobility. Across three studies, the project looks at executive functioning, delay discounting, financial risk taking, and educational and occupational success. Studies include a 1-year follow-up to measure longer-term changes in income, education, and employment. This project also contributes to NSF's efforts to increase participation in the STEM workforce through a summer research program. This project offers transformational science to advance the understanding of cyclical stress that could result in research that benefits everyone everywhere with implications for improving economic competitiveness and enhancing workforce development. 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.