Carol Dweck’s Mindset

Our beliefs about ourselves, or mindsets (also referred to as self-theories), grant each of us a unique psychological landscape; leading us to react to, attribute, feel, behave, and remember events differently from each other during similar or identical situations. Individuals possessing growth mindsets (incremental self-theories) in which positive self-change is possible, are drastically more motivated to learn and develop their skills over time and ultimately achieve a higher rate of long term success in such diverse domains as school, business, sports, and romantic relationships. Mindset was invented and developed by Professor Carol Dweck, one of our HIP research advisors, at Stanford University. Research conducted by Prof. Dweck and colleges has shown that, even when students start with equal academic ability, their theory of intelligence (intelligence mindset) shapes their responses to intellectual challenges: encouraging them to set learning goals over performance goals, to implement effective learning strategies vs. useless ones, to believe in the utility vs. futility of effort, and to make mastery over helpless attributions for failure.

It has been demonstrated that individuals possessing each of these mindsets tend to be evenly distributed in most populations and that their mindsets normally tend to be stable over time. However, research has also shown that targeted interventions can create a long-term shift in mindset. Numerous studies have demonstrated a causal link between a growth mindset and academic achievement, and students possessing it have a distinct advantage over those with a fixed mindset, especially in challenging situations.

Intelligence mindset can be used to predict academic achievement in math and science, and mindset interventions have been demonstrated effective in improving academic performance over time and reducing intergroup differences in math and science achievement.

Take a closer look at the fixed and growth mindsets by clicking here.