Finding #4: Mindsets shape policy support.

Mindsets shape not only how people think but also the solutions they see as necessary to make change. We find that certain mindsets are associated with greater policy support, while other mindsets are associated with weaker policy support. Certain mindsets help increase policy support, such as Government as Partner — which assumes that government can and should play a role in supporting children and families — and mindsets that recognise the impact of racism on children and families. The stronger these mindsets are in people’s thinking, the more they support policies and solutions. 

Other mindsets — such as Otherism (the idea that there is a superior ‘us’ and an inferior ‘them’ that compete for resources), Fatalism and Racial Progress (thinking that leads people to the conclusion that racism is no longer a problem) — erode support for solutions. 

The graphic below shows which mindsets are positively associated with policy support (in blue) and which mindsets are negatively associated with policy support (in orange). The more people endorse mindsets that are positively associated with policy support—Government as Partner, Structural Racism, and Interpersonal Racism—the more they support policy reforms to improve child and family wellbeing. The more that people endorse mindsets that are negatively associated with policy support—Otherism, Fatalism, and Racism is in the Past—the less they support policy reforms.