Study 2: Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck (2007)

In this study^[1], Dweck and her colleagues administered a questionnaire about beliefs and attitudes to some 7th graders in public schools, and then tracked 373 of the students from the beginning of the 7th grade to the end of 8th grade. This period marked the transition from elementary school to junior high school and was considered a particularly interesting time to study because it was such a challenging, stressful time for students. Such difficulties meant that differences in learning styles and attitudes could potentially have a substantial impact on student academic achievement.

At the beginning of their 7th grade school year, the children were tested on their mindset (various levels of commitment to fixed or growth mindset), learning goals (preference for easy or challenging work), beliefs about effort (whether it tends to lead to improvement or not), and attitudes about failure (whether it is motivating or discouraging).

The researchers focused on the students’ mathematics grades across the two years of the study. They chose mathematics because students tend to have strong beliefs about their math skills (“I’m good at math” or “I’m not a math person”), which is influenced by their mindset and because math proficiency can be tested and graded fairly objectively. Although the study focused on math, the researchers were interested in any area of study or skill, not just math.

The figure below shows the average math grades^[2] of the students with strong fixed and strong growth mindsets based on their initial test responses. Students with mixed mindsets are not included in this graph. At the end of the first semester, there was a very modest difference of fewer than two points in math grades, but the overall trends for the two lines are obviously different. The students with a fixed mindset (red line) showed a slight decline in average grades across the two years of the study. Students with a growth mindset (green line) showed steady improvement across the two years, with their average grade increasing by nearly 3-points.

At the beginning of the study, the students—then just starting the first term of the 7th grade—filled out a questionnaire about their attitudes and beliefs about learning. The table below summarizes these differences.^[3] The reason for these questions is an important part of the psychology of learning. Mindset itself (fixed vs. growth) doesn’t cause better or worse performance. Mindset leads to behaviors (types of studying, reactions to setbacks) that in turn affects the quality of learning.

The researchers found that children with growth mindsets (related to EFFORT praise in the first study) had different attitudes than children with fixed mindsets (related to ABILITY praise in the first study). The table below summarizes their findings.

Growth Mindsets and Fixed Mindsets

Attitude	Fixed Mindset	Growth Mindset
Preferred difficulty of work	Prefer easy work	Prefer challenging work
Belief about value of effort	Effort doesn’t lead to improvement	Effort leads to improvement
Attitude about failure	Failure is discouraging	Failure is motivating

The table indicates that children with different mindsets may have sought out different kinds of experiences, with growth mindset children preferring challenging experiences, while those with a fixed mindset preferring easier learning experiences that led to easy success. The growth mindset students believed that working hard—effort—leads to improvement, while those with fixed mindsets tended to undervalue effort, believing that hard work is frustrating because we can’t do better than our “talents” or “innate abilities” allow. Finally, the growth mindset children found difficult work and even failure to be a source of inspiration. They wanted to prove to themselves and to others that they could do what was needed to succeed. The fixed mindset children tended to respond to difficulty and failure with discouragement, believing that it simply reaffirmed their own limitations.

Takeaways

The two studies we have discussed are just two of dozens of research projects by Dweck and others that show how mindset is related to differences in achievement. In another study, Grant and Dweck (2003) followed several hundred college students taking a pre-med organic chemistry course, as this is one of the most important and challenging courses for pre-med students at most universities. Students with a growth mindset outperformed students with a fixed mindset, and the two groups reported differences in attitudes and beliefs similar to those shown in the table above.

Mindset is just one factor that influences how we learn and how we respond to challenges. Whether you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, you can study hard and do well in school and in other areas. Here is a summary point from Carol Dweck: “It should be noted that in these studies…students who have a fixed mindset but who are well prepared and do not encounter difficulties can do just fine. However, when they encounter challenges or obstacles they may then be at a disadvantage.”

One last thing to remember is this: you can change your mindset. If you regularly handicap yourself by your beliefs (I don’t have the talent for this) and attitudes about learning (I can’t learn this), you can change those beliefs and attitudes. That change in mindset can be the difference between an effective response to challenges or avoidance of those challenges. Keep in mind that your beliefs and attitudes are the result of many years of experience, so you won’t change your mindset overnight by simply deciding to be different. You will have to work at it. In particular, when you encounter difficulty—a poor grade on a test, a paper that has some negative comments from your professor, or a reading assignment that leaves you confused—that is the time when your mindset can have the most impact on what you do next. Don’t let your mindset prevent you from realizing your abilities or reaching your potential!

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