The economic returns to psychological interventions

That is the topic of my Bloomberg column, here is one excerpt:

One study of Ethiopia looked at the psychological impact of raising aspirations. The researchers created a randomized control trial, showing one group of people short films about business and entrepreneurial success in the community. Six months later, those who had seen the films had worked more, saved more and invested more in education, relative to those who had not seen the films. Even five years later, households that had seen the films had accumulated more wealth, and their children had on average 0.43 more years of education, which typically is considered an impressive effect.

Not all the results are so positive:

Sometimes psychological interventions produce only temporary effects. One research design taught self-efficacy lessons to women in India. The likelihood of employment rose 32% in the short run — but within a year the effects had dissipated…

None of these results demonstrates that there is a “psychology of poverty” to be overcome by external interventions. They do imply, however, that poorer economies can make marginal gains by investing in what might be called psychological and psychotherapeutic infrastructure. These research designs can be applied to hundreds or thousands of people, but it will never be easy to use them for entire citizenries. Nonetheless, countries can make therapeutic help more accessible and affordable, and foster a culture in which people feel comfortable seeking it out.

Are we in the west at the margins where more counseling and therapy are of zero value, or perhaps negatives?  Perhaps the only choice is either to have too little or too much self-reflection of a particular kind.