Growing up poor can influence people's sense of control and, in turn, may lead them to make more impulsive decisions and quickly give up on challenging tasks in uncertain environments, Science Daily reported on Wednesday.
Two people with different childhood backgrounds are likely to respond to uncertainty in different ways, even if they have similar socioeconomic statuses as adults. Adults who grew up poor were more inclined to consider difficult living conditions beyond their control, while those from affluent backgrounds found them to be within their control.This leads to different reactions to the same situation, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
Differing outlooks of control affected whether people were able to put off rewards, with people from poorer backgrounds more likely to behave impulsively in uncertain situations than those from wealthier families. After recalling financial hardships and then being asked to solve a puzzle, those who grew up in poverty gave up sooner than those who grew up wealthy, even if they had similar outcomes as adults.
One experiment with 95 people found that those with poor childhoods had a lower sense of control after looking at photos depicting struggle, including unemployment lines, home foreclosure signs and empty office buildings. Researchers asked how much the participants agreed with statements such as "I can do just about anything that I really set my mind to" or "Whether or not I am able to get what I want is in my own hands" to determine their sense of control, according to Science Daily.
Participants were selected based on household incomes that ranged from less than $15,000 to more than $150,000. To measure how impulsive each person was, researchers asked participants if they wanted to receive $28 to $58 tomorrow, or wait 33 days and receive $62 to $87. Adults from poorer backgrounds felt a lower sense of control and were more impulsive than those from wealthier backgrounds.
"Persistence is directly tied to myriad important outcomes, including self-control, academic achievement, substance abuse, criminal behavior, healthy eating and overspending," said study co-author Vladas Griskevicius of the University of Minnesota. "Future research should investigate strategies to prevent individuals from poor childhoods from potentially quitting challenging tasks in the face of adversity."
