Publication Type
PhD Dissertation
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
4-2025
Abstract
Low-SES college students often face contradictory demands and expectations as they navigate between their home and college environments. Grounded in prior evidence demonstrating the benefits of a paradox mindset—characterized by “both/and” thinking and a tendency to accept, value, and feel comfortable with tensions—in situations that involve contradictions, this research hypothesized that a paradox mindset promotes professional, relational, and well-being outcomes among low-SES college students. Importantly, SES-college identity integration, defined as perceived blendedness and harmony between one’s socioeconomic class identity and college student identity, was proposed as a key mediating mechanism underlying these benefits. Three studies were conducted with low-SES undergraduate students in the United States. Study 1 (N = 165) employed a cross-sectional, correlational design, showing that a paradox mindset was indirectly associated with higher career adaptability, as well as better relational and well-being outcomes via identity integration. Study 2 (N = 300) demonstrated that a paradox mindset was indirectly associated with better performance in both identity-relevant and general creativity tasks through identity blendedness. Study 3 (N = 342) experimentally manipulated paradox mindset, showing that the paradox mindset condition (vs. the prioritization mindset or control condition) enhanced identity integration only among students with lower self-perceptions of minority status in college.The results supported the beneficial role of a paradox mindset in promoting positive personal outcomes for low-SES colleges students, while suggesting that addressing self-perceptions of minority status might also be crucial. The findings hold significant practical implications for advancing equity within higher education and fostering social mobility.
Keywords
Paradox mindset, low-SES college students, identity integration, career adaptability, well-being, creativity
Degree Awarded
PhD in Psychology
Discipline
Social Psychology and Interaction
Supervisor(s)
LEUNG, Ka Yee; CHENG, Chi-Ying
First Page
1
Last Page
84
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
DAI, Xiaoyu.
Harnessing a paradox mindset to straddle two worlds: The relationship between paradox mindset and professional, social, and well-being outcomes via identity integration among low-SES college students. (2025). 1-84.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/699
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.