Over the last 15 years or so the theory of a ‘growth mindset’ has become increasingly popular. Willingham (2025) has reviewed the research and this post provides an overview of his findings.
What is the growth mindset theory?
- Persistence on a task is not determined by success or failure, but rather your interpretation of these outcomes.
- Belief about intelligence predicts your interpretation of setbacks AND the type of tasks you select.
- If you believe intelligence is fixed (fixed mindset) and related to task performance, you’ll select easier tasks so you appear smarter.
- If you think intelligence can be developed (growth mindset) and performance reveals mastery, you’ll select challenging tasks that lead to further learning.
- People with a growth mindset are more likely to persist when tasks are difficult.
The research
- In the 1980s and 1990s, Dweck and colleagues found that children who were praised for their intelligence chose easy tasks because they wanted to be successful and were interested in how other children performed. Children praised for their effort chose difficult tasks because they wanted to learn and were interested in the strategies other children used. They also found that the different types of praise changed children’s view of intelligence.
- However, researchers seeking to replicate Dweck’s findings obtained mixed results. Some reported no effect, some obtained mixed results and some did seem effective.
- Consequently, some researchers suggest the theory was wrong, although correlational findings of increased achievement associated with a growth mindset would indicate that this is not the case.
- Another suggestion is that the theory was correct, but actually changing a person’s mindset is difficult. The large range of intervention strategies trialled also makes it difficult to compare different studies.
- In fact, Dweck noted that developing a growth mindset is more than just praising students when they try. It also requires developing a plan for dealing with setbacks including analysing what went wrong and working out alternative strategies for attempting the task.
- In addition, there are likely to be many factors contributing to student outcomes or which mindset is just one element.
- It is also interesting to note that findings vary significantly between different countries with some countries which supports the suggestion that the size of the relationship between academic achievement and mindset must depend on other factors.
- More recent research using a carefully developed online intervention strategy found that participation lead to an increase in a growth mindset and a reduced dropout rate among university students, especially economically disadvantaged students, and enrolment in more difficult courses.
- Another study using the same online intervention program with Year 9 students found a similar increase in students’ growth mindset and an increased GPA score. Again, the intervention was less significant at smaller schools with high average achievements and the researchers speculated that because these schools already enjoyed ample resources, the growth mindset intervention didn’t add substantial additional benefits.
- Other factors not contributing to a change in mindset were the teachers’ mindset (teachers with a fixed mindset was negatively correlated with increased student achievement), peer attitudes (a larger impact on growth mindset was correlated with peers with a similar mindset) and the participation in the intervention in relation to the selection of courses.
Take away message
- There are no ‘silver bullets’ in education, but promoting a growth mindset in students is still beneficial.
- Check out Dweck and colleagues free resources: mindsetkit.org
- Teachers (and parents) should consistently apply growth mindset principles:
- Encourage students to seek feedback when unsuccessful.
- Encourage students to analyse errors and use this as an opportunity for learning.
- Encourage students to think of different strategies.
Reference
Willingham, D. (2025). Ask the cognitive scientist: Does developing a growth mindset help students learn? The Bulletin, 61, 2-6.