Growth mindset theory holds that people differ in their implicit beliefs about whether intelligence and ability are fixed traits or qualities that can be developed. Someone with a growth mindset believes ability can be built through effort, strategy and persistence, while someone with a fixed mindset regards ability as an unchangeable trait, and the theory argues this belief shapes how a person responds to setbacks and whether they keep trying at a difficult task. Carol Dweck developed the framework from her research on implicit theories of intelligence and popularized it for a general audience in her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Later attempts to apply growth mindset training in schools have had mixed results: a 2019 randomized controlled trial by England's Education Endowment Foundation found no significant increase in numeracy or literacy from a growth mindset intervention, and researchers have separately described a false growth mindset, where adults endorse the belief in principle without changing how they actually teach or respond to a learner's struggle.
Widely applied in schools, but a large 2019 randomized controlled trial found no significant effect on academic outcomes, so the theory's classroom effectiveness, as distinct from the underlying psychological distinction, is genuinely contested.
Facts
Core ClaimBelieving that ability can be developed through effort and strategy, a growth mindset, produces different responses to challenge and failure than believing ability is a fixed trait, and how a learner is praised, for effort and strategy rather than for being innately smart, is held to shape which belief they form. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Growth mindset research is cited in debates over tracking, with proponents arguing that promoting a growth mindset can raise achievement regardless of a student track placement.
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mindset
Wikimedia FoundationFixed and growth mindsetsQuote, Fixed and growth mindsets
In 2019 a larger randomized controlled trial by the Education Endowment Foundation for growth mindset training showed no significant increase in numeracy or literacy.
1. Wikipedia: Mindset
Wikimedia FoundationCore ConceptQuote, Core Concept
People with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence is static, and little can be done to improve ability.
1. Wikipedia: Mindset
Wikimedia FoundationReferences, Dweck 2006 citationQuote, References, Dweck 2006 citation
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
1. Wikipedia: Mindset
Wikimedia FoundationDeveloped By: Carol Dweck, Developer and TimelineView the Source Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Tracking and Streaming, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_(education), growth mindset discussionQuote, Associated With: Tracking and Streaming, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_(education), growth mindset discussion
Dweck implies that teachers who promote a growth mindset could stimulate students to greater academic achievement regardless of tracking.
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