318 PROMOTING POTENTIALAlbert Bandura referred to such consequences in terms of “cognitive
self- effi cacy beliefs.” Citing diverse lines of research, he said that they “ex-
ert considerable impact on human development and adaptation.... Such
beliefs infl uence aspirations and strength of goal commitments, level of
motivation and perseverance in the face of diffi culties and setbacks, re-
silience to adversity, quality of analytical thinking, causal attributions for
successes and failures, and vulnerability to stress and depression.”^47
However, as more recent studies reported by Willem Frankenhuis and
Carolina de Weerth show, children from stressed backgrounds who
perform lower on standard tests are not generally impaired in their
analytical thinking. Instead they actually exhibit improved detection,
learning, and memory of stimuli that are ecologically relevant to them
(e.g., dangers) in their par tic u lar circumstances, compared with safely
nurtured peers.^48
Perhaps most ironically, lower- class parents, through their own experi-
ences, especially in school, are likely to have reached negative conclusions
of their own abilities. Th is could well have been assisted by media reports
of the “ge ne tic” basis of their failures. It is diffi cult to feel self- confi dent
and aspirational for self or children in a society that has certifi ed you as
defi cient in brainpower. Children who enter school with such beliefs are less
inclined to engage with school learning, become more easily distracted,
and even rebel (see chapter 11, especially the work of Carol Dweck).
Th is helps explain the reduced parental encouragements and re-
duced inclination to engage their children in activities relevant to future
schooling— a regular fi nding of the surveys mentioned above. Lower social
class parents are less likely to have confi dence in their ability to help their
children succeed in school and have lower academic aspirations for them.
Even the fear of being labeled as of inferior potential may impede per for-
mance. “Social psychological research suggests that negative ste reo types
about women and minorities can create subtle barriers to success through
ste reo type threat.”^49 I described in chapter 3 the ways in which these eff ects
impact IQ and educational test per for mances, resulting in serious mis-
readings of individuals’ cognitive potentials.
Note that these eff ects do not stem from actual personal potential or
quality of childcare. Th ey emerge from perceptions of place in a social order
and the extent of control in, and cognitive engagement with, that order.
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