ABSTRACT
When bad things happen to people—like placement on academic probation, experiencing symptoms in a medical treatment, or difficulties with a baby—people can risk drawing negative, even catastrophic or stigmatizing inferences about themselves, other people, or their prospects. Ironically, these inferences can become self-fulfilling and undermine outcomes for both individuals and institutions. Yet this response is not inevitable. Here we describe five principles that can be used to forestall common pejorative inferences in response to challenges and how institutions can implement these principles in changes to common practices to help people succeed in diverse areas of their lives. Further, we describe design steps that can be used to assess how people understand specific challenges in a setting and support the development of effective interventions. When institutions reframe bad news intentionally, they can help individuals thrive and make progress toward institutional goals.
