Do we really 'achieve what we believe'? The power of a growth mindset
Written by Amie Orsetti
What is the difference between people who are successful and those who are not? Well, that may be a big question, but research over the past 50 years has shown that one key predictor of success is mindset. Mindsets are sets of beliefs we hold that help shape how we think and behave (Klein, 2016). Mindsets can relate to many things. For example, let’s say you have a political mindset. Depending on that mindset, you might hold certain feelings towards specific policies or community issues and support and vote for certain political parties. We also have mindsets about our abilities, called fixed and growth mindsets (Dweck & Yeager, 2019). These are the mindsets that relate to success.
There are two mindsets related to beliefs about our abilities. People with fixed mindsets believe that their abilities cannot be changed (Dweck & Yeager, 2019). They tend to believe that they are born with an certain amount of skill, talent, or intelligence, and that there is little they can do to change that. In contrast, people with growth mindsets believe that their abilities can be changed. They tend to believe that while they are born with a certain amount of skill, talent, or intelligence, they are able to increase their abilities through effort, practice, and persistence.
To illustrate how these mindsets work, imagine two children. Each child is working on a puzzle. One child has a fixed mindset; the other has a growth mindset. When the children struggle with an aspect of the puzzle, their mindsets can help us understand how they react to the challenge. The child with the fixed mindset believes that because they are stuck at this point in the puzzle, they are not smart enough to figure it out, causing them to feel overwhelmed or frustrated. They may avoid asking for help because they don’t want anyone else to know that they can’t figure it out alone. In fact, the child is likely to give up all together. On the other hand, the child with the growth mindset believes that if they keep working on the puzzle and trying new approaches, they might be able to figure it out. They are more likely to continue to try, even when the task seems hard. This child may also ask for help. To them, learning how to solve the puzzle is more important than what others think of their abilities.
The example of children working on puzzles is simple, but it shows how our mindset can influence our motivation and persistence to complete hard tasks – even though we are generally unaware of what our mindset is. Being more motivated and persistent when we are challenged is what links growth mindsets to success. When we have growth-oriented beliefs about our abilities, we are much more likely to persist through difficulty and try harder when we meet challenges (Dweck & Yeager, 2019). Not only that, instead of being focused on what others think about our efforts or achievements, we become more focused on our own ability to learn how to master a task. This drive to master tasks feeds right back into our persistence to succeed. Returning to our example, the next time those two children attempt a challenging puzzle, they will probably view the task differently. When the child with the growth mindset gets stuck, they can draw on the troubleshooting approaches they learned the last time to try and figure it out. They also know that with persistence, they have been able to complete hard puzzles before. Therefore, they are more likely to take on the challenge and succeed. The child with the fixed mindset is more likely to see the puzzle as a reminder that they are bad at puzzles, worry that others might also discover they are unable to complete the task, and avoid it altogether.
If you pay attention in your daily life, you can notice your mindset. How do you react when an instructor gives you a C grade and sends you feedback on a paper? Do you read and consider the feedback, or just toss it in a stack of old work? When your co-worker gets a promotion over you, do you approach the supervisor to see how you could improve your application for next time, or vent in the breakroom about how the other guy got lucky? When you’re playing basketball in PE class, how do you react to barely hitting the backboard when you practice three-point throws? Everyone is born with different skills and abilities. By understanding mindsets, we can work to make our own mindset more growth-oriented, and increase our chances of success in whatever we choose to pursue.
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References
Dweck, C. (2016, January 13). What having a “growth mindset” actually means. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means
Dweck, C. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2019). Mindsets: A view from two eras. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(3), 481-496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618804166
Klein, G. (2016, May 1). Mindsets. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets
Disclaimer
The blog posts are for informational and educational purposes only. The posts should not be considered as any type of advice (medical, mental health, legal, and/or religious advice). All blog posts have been researched, written, and edited by the undergraduate students and alumni of the Lifespan Cognition Lab. As a teaching and research-based lab, we encourage all lab members to help make knowledge more accessible to all communities through these posts.
