Years ago, I read about how a “growth mindset” can boost your chances for academic success. According to this popular theory, students are more likely to succeed if they believe that they can change their personal traits and abilities.
For example, instead of assuming that they have a fixed amount of talent for a particular ability – like solving algebraic equations or drawing portraits – they recognize that they can learn and grow. They don’t have a fixed level of skill, and the mistakes they make aren’t a sign of some hopeless lack of talent.
This theory makes sense. When learning something, I’d rather go into it with an attitude of perseverance and skill building, instead of a defeatist mindset that prompts me to give up at every mistake or struggle.
But what happens if you try to teach growth mindset in a classroom? Do interventions that aim to cultivate growth mindset among students actually work?
A systematic review and meta analysis of the existing research didn’t find significant positive effects for these kinds of interventions. What it found was poor study design and researchers influenced by financial incentives to produce stronger positive results.
One of the authors of this review and meta analysis also posted a Twitter thread (called an X thread now?) that’s worth reading, partly because it responds to a different meta analysis that seems to regard growth mindset interventions more favorably.
At this point, there doesn’t seem to be good solid evidence that these interventions work for students. Maybe you can personally find a way to make growth mindset work well for you and help you achieve your goals (academic or otherwise). But the current interventions introduced to groups may not do much at all on average. They appear to be overhyped.
And yes, it’s also depressing to read about low-quality research in psych and how often it gets cited and reported without criticism.
Bright Across the Lifespan 