Gregory M Walton
Biographic Data
| ID | 4554977 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gregory M Walton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gregory M |
| FAMILY NAME | Walton |
| SIGNATURE | WALTON G M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stanford University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 368 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Depression-Reframing
Widespread narratives frame mental illness as a sign of inherent personal weakness—an alleged weakness that would permanently undermine people’s ability to pursue goals in life. Do these narratives have self-fulfilling consequences? To test this hypothesis, and to attain a practical way to support people in realizing their strengths, we developed a brief (~20 min), highly scalable exercise that highlights the strengths people show when contending…
See Me, Support Me
This work suggests the potential to provide ELL students a platform to vocalize their goals, needs, and ambitions to bring students and teachers together and help both succeed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
A strategic mindset enhances children’s generation of effective strategies and delay of gratification across tasks
Overcoming challenges to achieve success involves being able to spontaneously come up with effective strategies to address different task demands. Research has linked individual differences in such strategy generation and use to optimal development over time and greater success across many areas of life. Yet, there is surprisingly little experimental evidence that tests how we might help young children to spontaneously generate and apply effectiv…
Microinclusions
1,430) tested this theorizing. In Experiment 1, both men and women at a large technology company anticipated greater fit in a work group described with microinclusions, yet this effect was greatest for women. Experiments 2-4 replicated this effect among women science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and college students considering a career in technology and showed that women's anticipated fit arose over and beyond s…
Does “Jamal” receive a harsher sentence than “James”? First-name bias in the criminal sentencing of Black men
OBJECTIVE: Using archival and experimental methods, we tested the role that racial associations of first names play in criminal sentencing. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that Black defendants with more stereotypically Black names (e.g., Jamal) would receive more punitive sentences than Black defendants with more stereotypically White names (e.g., James). METHOD: In an archival study, we obtained a random sample of 296 real-world records of Black ma…
A growth-theory-of-interest intervention increases interest in math and science coursework among liberal arts undergraduates
Mitigating welfare-related prejudice and partisanship among U.S. conservatives with moral reframing of a universal basic income policy
Inequality and deep poverty have risen sharply in the US since the 1990s. Simultaneously, cash-based welfare policies have frayed, support for public assistance has fallen on the political right, and prejudice against recipients of welfare has remained high. Yet, in recent years Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained traction, a policy proposing to give all citizens cash sufficient to meet basic needs with no strings attached. We hypothesized th…
Teacher‐ versus researcher‐provided affirmation effects on students’ task engagement and positive perceptions of teachers
Values‐affirmation interventions have the potential to improve students’ experience and achievement in school. Researchers have proposed that these benefits are greatest when affirmation exercises are delivered by teachers (versus researchers). The current research provides an experimental test of whether describing affirmation activities as provided by teachers increases students’ engagement with the activities and students’ positive perceptions…
Normative appeals motivate people to contribute to collective action problems more when they invite people to work together toward a common goal
which included the same normative information but no reference to working together, did not affect interest or behavior. Mediation analyses suggest that working-together normative appeals were more effective because they fostered a feeling in participants that they were working together with others, which increased motivation, while inducing less social pressure, which undermined effectiveness. Results show how the very collective nature of colle…
Witnessing change
How Brief Social‐Psychological Interventions Can Cause Enduring Effects
In recent years, several studies have shown that brief, theory‐based social‐psychological interventions can cause large, enduring effects on important outcomes, such as school achievement and marital relationships. How are such effects possible? We propose a field‐theory model : this model distinguishes “nudge” interventions—interventions designed to change a “snapshot” in time such as a particular decision or behavior—from interventions designed…
Implicit theories about willpower predict self-regulation and grades in everyday life
Laboratory research shows that when people believe that willpower is an abundant (rather than highly limited) resource they exhibit better self-control after demanding tasks. However, some have questioned whether this "nonlimited" theory leads to squandering of resources and worse outcomes in everyday life when demands on self-regulation are high. To examine this, we conducted a longitudinal study, assessing students' theories about willpower and…
Cues of working together fuel intrinsic motivation
Boring but important
Many important learning tasks feel uninteresting and tedious to learners. This research proposed that promoting a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose could improve academic self-regulation on such tasks. This proposal was supported in 4 studies with over 2,000 adolescents and young adults. Study 1 documented a correlation between a self-transcendent purpose for learning and self-reported trait measures of academic self-regulation. Those with mor…
Mere belonging
Four experiments examined the effect on achievement motivation of mere belonging, a minimal social connection to another person or group in a performance domain. Mere belonging was expected to increase motivation by creating socially shared goals around a performance task. Participants were led to believe that an endeavor provided opportunities for positive social interactions (Experiment 1), that they shared a birthday with a student majoring in…
Is multiculturalism bad for African Americans? Redefining inclusion through the lens of identity safety
Your heart makes my heart move
Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers
Social identity threat is the notion that one of a person's many social identities may be at risk of being devalued in a particular context (C. M. Steele, S. J. Spencer, & J. Aronson, 2002). The authors suggest that in domains in which women are already negatively stereotyped, interacting with a sexist man can trigger social identity threat, undermining women's performance. In Study 1, male engineering students who scored highly on a subtle measu…
A question of belonging
Stigmatization can give rise to belonging uncertainty. In this state, people are sensitive to information diagnostic of the quality of their social connections. Two experiments tested how belonging uncertainty undermines the motivation and achievement of people whose group is negatively characterized in academic settings. In Experiment 1, students were led to believe that they might have few friends in an intellectual domain. Whereas White studen…
Stereotype Lift
A question of belonging
Stigmatization can give rise to belonging uncertainty. In this state, people are sensitive to information diagnostic of the quality of their social connections. Two experiments tested how belonging uncertainty undermines the motivation and achievement of people whose group is negatively characterized in academic settings. In Experiment 1, students were led to believe that they might have few friends in an intellectual domain. Whereas White studen…
Stereotype Lift
Mere belonging
Four experiments examined the effect on achievement motivation of mere belonging, a minimal social connection to another person or group in a performance domain. Mere belonging was expected to increase motivation by creating socially shared goals around a performance task. Participants were led to believe that an endeavor provided opportunities for positive social interactions (Experiment 1), that they shared a birthday with a student majoring in…
Witnessing change
Boring but important
Many important learning tasks feel uninteresting and tedious to learners. This research proposed that promoting a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose could improve academic self-regulation on such tasks. This proposal was supported in 4 studies with over 2,000 adolescents and young adults. Study 1 documented a correlation between a self-transcendent purpose for learning and self-reported trait measures of academic self-regulation. Those with mor…
Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers
Social identity threat is the notion that one of a person's many social identities may be at risk of being devalued in a particular context (C. M. Steele, S. J. Spencer, & J. Aronson, 2002). The authors suggest that in domains in which women are already negatively stereotyped, interacting with a sexist man can trigger social identity threat, undermining women's performance. In Study 1, male engineering students who scored highly on a subtle measu…
Mitigating welfare-related prejudice and partisanship among U.S. conservatives with moral reframing of a universal basic income policy
Inequality and deep poverty have risen sharply in the US since the 1990s. Simultaneously, cash-based welfare policies have frayed, support for public assistance has fallen on the political right, and prejudice against recipients of welfare has remained high. Yet, in recent years Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained traction, a policy proposing to give all citizens cash sufficient to meet basic needs with no strings attached. We hypothesized th…
Implicit theories about willpower predict self-regulation and grades in everyday life
Laboratory research shows that when people believe that willpower is an abundant (rather than highly limited) resource they exhibit better self-control after demanding tasks. However, some have questioned whether this "nonlimited" theory leads to squandering of resources and worse outcomes in everyday life when demands on self-regulation are high. To examine this, we conducted a longitudinal study, assessing students' theories about willpower and…
Your heart makes my heart move
Cues of working together fuel intrinsic motivation
Teacher‐ versus researcher‐provided affirmation effects on students’ task engagement and positive perceptions of teachers
Values‐affirmation interventions have the potential to improve students’ experience and achievement in school. Researchers have proposed that these benefits are greatest when affirmation exercises are delivered by teachers (versus researchers). The current research provides an experimental test of whether describing affirmation activities as provided by teachers increases students’ engagement with the activities and students’ positive perceptions…
Microinclusions
1,430) tested this theorizing. In Experiment 1, both men and women at a large technology company anticipated greater fit in a work group described with microinclusions, yet this effect was greatest for women. Experiments 2-4 replicated this effect among women science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and college students considering a career in technology and showed that women's anticipated fit arose over and beyond s…
Normative appeals motivate people to contribute to collective action problems more when they invite people to work together toward a common goal
which included the same normative information but no reference to working together, did not affect interest or behavior. Mediation analyses suggest that working-together normative appeals were more effective because they fostered a feeling in participants that they were working together with others, which increased motivation, while inducing less social pressure, which undermined effectiveness. Results show how the very collective nature of colle…
Stereotype Lift
A question of belonging
Stigmatization can give rise to belonging uncertainty. In this state, people are sensitive to information diagnostic of the quality of their social connections. Two experiments tested how belonging uncertainty undermines the motivation and achievement of people whose group is negatively characterized in academic settings. In Experiment 1, students were led to believe that they might have few friends in an intellectual domain. Whereas White studen…
Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers
Social identity threat is the notion that one of a person's many social identities may be at risk of being devalued in a particular context (C. M. Steele, S. J. Spencer, & J. Aronson, 2002). The authors suggest that in domains in which women are already negatively stereotyped, interacting with a sexist man can trigger social identity threat, undermining women's performance. In Study 1, male engineering students who scored highly on a subtle measu…
Is multiculturalism bad for African Americans? Redefining inclusion through the lens of identity safety
Your heart makes my heart move
Mere belonging
Four experiments examined the effect on achievement motivation of mere belonging, a minimal social connection to another person or group in a performance domain. Mere belonging was expected to increase motivation by creating socially shared goals around a performance task. Participants were led to believe that an endeavor provided opportunities for positive social interactions (Experiment 1), that they shared a birthday with a student majoring in…
Cues of working together fuel intrinsic motivation
Boring but important
Many important learning tasks feel uninteresting and tedious to learners. This research proposed that promoting a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose could improve academic self-regulation on such tasks. This proposal was supported in 4 studies with over 2,000 adolescents and young adults. Study 1 documented a correlation between a self-transcendent purpose for learning and self-reported trait measures of academic self-regulation. Those with mor…
How Brief Social‐Psychological Interventions Can Cause Enduring Effects
In recent years, several studies have shown that brief, theory‐based social‐psychological interventions can cause large, enduring effects on important outcomes, such as school achievement and marital relationships. How are such effects possible? We propose a field‐theory model : this model distinguishes “nudge” interventions—interventions designed to change a “snapshot” in time such as a particular decision or behavior—from interventions designed…
Implicit theories about willpower predict self-regulation and grades in everyday life
Laboratory research shows that when people believe that willpower is an abundant (rather than highly limited) resource they exhibit better self-control after demanding tasks. However, some have questioned whether this "nonlimited" theory leads to squandering of resources and worse outcomes in everyday life when demands on self-regulation are high. To examine this, we conducted a longitudinal study, assessing students' theories about willpower and…
Witnessing change
Teacher‐ versus researcher‐provided affirmation effects on students’ task engagement and positive perceptions of teachers
Values‐affirmation interventions have the potential to improve students’ experience and achievement in school. Researchers have proposed that these benefits are greatest when affirmation exercises are delivered by teachers (versus researchers). The current research provides an experimental test of whether describing affirmation activities as provided by teachers increases students’ engagement with the activities and students’ positive perceptions…
Normative appeals motivate people to contribute to collective action problems more when they invite people to work together toward a common goal
which included the same normative information but no reference to working together, did not affect interest or behavior. Mediation analyses suggest that working-together normative appeals were more effective because they fostered a feeling in participants that they were working together with others, which increased motivation, while inducing less social pressure, which undermined effectiveness. Results show how the very collective nature of colle…
Mitigating welfare-related prejudice and partisanship among U.S. conservatives with moral reframing of a universal basic income policy
Inequality and deep poverty have risen sharply in the US since the 1990s. Simultaneously, cash-based welfare policies have frayed, support for public assistance has fallen on the political right, and prejudice against recipients of welfare has remained high. Yet, in recent years Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained traction, a policy proposing to give all citizens cash sufficient to meet basic needs with no strings attached. We hypothesized th…
Does “Jamal” receive a harsher sentence than “James”? First-name bias in the criminal sentencing of Black men
OBJECTIVE: Using archival and experimental methods, we tested the role that racial associations of first names play in criminal sentencing. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that Black defendants with more stereotypically Black names (e.g., Jamal) would receive more punitive sentences than Black defendants with more stereotypically White names (e.g., James). METHOD: In an archival study, we obtained a random sample of 296 real-world records of Black ma…
A growth-theory-of-interest intervention increases interest in math and science coursework among liberal arts undergraduates
Microinclusions
1,430) tested this theorizing. In Experiment 1, both men and women at a large technology company anticipated greater fit in a work group described with microinclusions, yet this effect was greatest for women. Experiments 2-4 replicated this effect among women science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and college students considering a career in technology and showed that women's anticipated fit arose over and beyond s…
Depression-Reframing
Widespread narratives frame mental illness as a sign of inherent personal weakness—an alleged weakness that would permanently undermine people’s ability to pursue goals in life. Do these narratives have self-fulfilling consequences? To test this hypothesis, and to attain a practical way to support people in realizing their strengths, we developed a brief (~20 min), highly scalable exercise that highlights the strengths people show when contending…
See Me, Support Me
This work suggests the potential to provide ELL students a platform to vocalize their goals, needs, and ambitions to bring students and teachers together and help both succeed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
A strategic mindset enhances children’s generation of effective strategies and delay of gratification across tasks
Overcoming challenges to achieve success involves being able to spontaneously come up with effective strategies to address different task demands. Research has linked individual differences in such strategy generation and use to optimal development over time and greater success across many areas of life. Yet, there is surprisingly little experimental evidence that tests how we might help young children to spontaneously generate and apply effectiv…
Psychology (17 works) · Social Psychology (16 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (11 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (8 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Cognitive psychology (5 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Political science (4 works) · Gender Diversity and Inequality (3 works)