Acta Sociologica, Ahead of Print.
This study analyzes the causal effect of positive feedback on students’ task-specific math self-concept using data from a randomized field experiment conducted among rural Hungarian primary school students. It examines how academic self-concept (ASC) responds to the smallest possible dose of positive feedback—a single instance—and explores treatment heterogeneity by gender. The results show that all students who received randomized positive performance feedback experienced a statistically significant (albeit small) improvement in task-specific math self-concept. The positive treatment effect was primarily driven by girls, who experienced a large and statistically significant effect—over 50% greater than the non-significant treatment effect observed among boys. However, the difference in treatment effects between girls and boys, as well as the corresponding decrease in the gender gap between treated and controlled students was not statistically significant. Thus, the results suggest that, while a single instance of positive feedback can temporarily boost students’ ASC, it is not a panacea for reducing gender inequalities in ASC. Nevertheless, because girls were particularly responsive to positive feedback treatment and boys were not harmed by it, the results suggest that positive feedback interventions may act as a policy lever for improving girls’ self-concept if the intensity of the treatment is enhanced.