Left behind or moving forward? Effects of possible selves and strategies to attain them among rural Chinese children

•In rural China 40% of children are “left behind” by parents who migrate without them.•Children feel less optimistic and more fatalistic if “Left behind” is on their mind.•Possible selves and strategies to attain them predicts improved school performance.•But possible selves also predict more problem behavior for left behind children.•Strategies to attain possible selves predict fewer behavior problems and less depression.

Are possible selves and strategies to attain them universally helpful even among children with few resources? We test this question in rural China. Rural Chinese children are commonly “left behind” (LB) by parents seizing economic opportunities by migrating, hoping the family will “move forward” and their children will attain their predestined better future. Media, teachers, and peers negatively represent LB children as unruly and undisciplined, with negative fates, making LB a negative stereotype that includes the idea of destiny or fate. Indeed, making the idea of LB salient increases children's fatalism (Study 1 n = 144, Study 2 n = 124). However, having strategies to attain possible future selves predicts better in-class behavior, fewer depressive symptoms, and better exam performance even a year later and controlling for prior performance (Study 3 n = 176, Study 4 n = 145). Possible selves have mixed effects, not always predicting better grades and undermining LB children's self-control.