ACCI Conference 2024

Cooperative Extension is involved in many community initiatives designed to improve well-being, often funded by grants. Typically, the grant report is due before program effects are measurable. The challenge was to find changes that preceded these outcomes. One such change was mindset, i.e., the collection of values, aspirations, traits, and motivations that guide life decisions and actions. Measuring the presence of mindsets supportive of intended program outcomes would provide a reasonable case for the probability of ultimate outcomes. Using data from an online survey of 306 US adults ages 18 to 76 residing in a rural county, we applied the Quantitative Empathy methodology to discover existing mindsets and to develop a “typing tool” to assess the presence of each mindset in a given community. Using a set of defining characteristics discovered through our analysis, seven mindsets were identified: The Drop In, The Independent Wanderer, The Detached Resident, The Community Enforcer, The Community Leader, The Dedicated Doer, and The Resourceful Loner. These mindsets that were validated through an exercise with Cooperative Extension agents working in the counties exhibit important differences in civic engagement that are likely to support predictions of probable program effects.

Author(s): Camryn Cobb, Rebekah Carnes, Dee Warmath