What is Meant by a Growth Mindset?
A recent research explores quantifying growth mindset by the psychometric properties of a new scale. Growth Mindset Scale is a quantitative measure which is context independent and simple to administer.
Growth mindset is a crucial factor that impacts motivational processes, achievement, and well-being. Additionally, it plays a vital role in the development of expertise and excellence. An intricate interplay among various factors including deliberate practice, passion for achievement, grit, growth mindset and follow up/significant others (teacher, trainer, mentor) appears to be essential prerequisites for individuals to maintain focused, engage in sufficient practice and training, and ultimately become experts .
Carol Dweck has been a significant researcher in mindset research for decades. In 1973, she published a paper focusing on learned helplessness and reinforcement responsibility in children . Over a span of 50 years, Dweck has evolved her ideas regarding the importance of cultivating a growth mindset i.e., the ability to see opportunities rather than obstacles and to believe in the malleability and development of personal attributes .
Fixed and Growth Mindsets
Mindset is a set of beliefs in our own abilities, attributes, and traits such as intelligence and personality (Dweck, 2012). According to Dweck’s model of Implicit Theories of Intelligence, people may hold different ‘‘theories’’ about the nature of intelligence (Blackwell et al., 2007). It gives two frameworks: fixed and growth mindsets. Individuals with a fixed mindset tend to believe that human attributes and traits are fixed and permanent qualities. While those with a growth mindset assume that qualities are malleable, prone to change and development, rather than fixed, and see them as something that they can enhance and shape (Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Dweck & Yeager, 2019; Yeager et al., 2019).
When experiencing setbacks or stressors across learning or achievement contexts (such as in sports, work, and educational domains) people with a growth mindset seem to exhibit more successful patterns of response, including more effective learning- and self-regulatory strategies, relative to those with a fixed mindset (Dweck, 2017). For example, when having a growth mindset, you think that you become more knowledgeable and skilled through effort, focus more on learning goals, and display mastery-oriented strategies (Blackwell et al., 2007).
Measurement of mindset
Psychological constructs may be challenging to measure, and mindset appears to be no exception. For instance, the type of mindset assessment is found to influence the link between incremental beliefs and achievement. Specifically, the use of specific versus general scales measuring mindset, and original versus adapted versions of the scale, strongly moderated the association between mindset and achievement (Costa & Faria, 2018). Researchers have also used the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS) assess individuals’ growth and fixed mindset (Dweck, 1999). Typically, the questions in TIS are formulated to reveal whether the belief about intelligence is fixed or can be changed (growth). For example, an entity theory item might be “You have a certain amount of intelligence and you really can’t do much to change it”, whereas an incremental theory item could be “You can always substantially change how intelligent you are”.
The current study reports on the development of a new scale aimed at the objectively quantifying of the construct Growth Mindset. The primary aim is to examine the applicability of the 8-item scale, its internal consistency and construct validity in a sample of young adults and adults. The overall goal is to contribute to the understanding of the complex construct of Growth Mindset.
The growth mindset questions.
1. I know that with effort I can improve my skills and knowledge
2. I can influence and change my development in general
3. I can change my skills and knowledge through practice
4. I like to take challenges and try new things
5. I see learning as my goal
6. Effort makes me stronger
7. I want to spend more time and work more on an area/theme/skill to develop my skills and knowledge
8. I have faith in my own skills and my possibilities
Mindset
Dwecks (1999) Theories of intelligence scale (TIS) was used to assess students’ entity (fixed) and incremental (growth) conceptions of intelligence. The self-form for adults of this measure was used to ensure that the participants focused on their ideas about their own intelligence. This scale consists of several subscales with items rated on a 6-point Likert-type scale, from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 6 (Strongly Disagree). The items differ between those associated with an incremental theory (i.e., growth mindset) and those associated with an entity theory (i.e., fixed mindset).
Passion
Researchers used the Passion scale to analyze the participants’ passion levels (Sigmundsson et al., 2020a). Participants provided ratings for eight items on a scale ranging from 1 (not like me at all) to 5 (very much like me). The scale’s maximum score is 5, indicating extreme passion, while the minimum is 1, denoting no passion at all.
Grit
Researchers used the Grit S, short grit scale to measure participants’ grit levels(Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Participants rated eight items on a 5-point Likert scale, indicating the extent to which each statement was “true” for them (1 = not like me at all, 5 = very much like me). The scale comprised two subscales, each consisting of four items: Consistency of Interest (COI) and Perseverance of Effort (POE).
High achievement needs the intertwined constructs of passion, grit and mindset. Passion is the direction of the arrow to an area/theme/skill, grit is the size and strength of the arrow and mindset is an important underlying factor for both grit and passion (Sigmundsson et al., 2021).
The aim of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of a recently developed measure attempting to quantify Growth Mindset independent from activity specification. A sample of 723 participants, encompassing both females and males in the age range of 16–85, used the scale. It allowed for the investigation of the feasibility, internal consistency, and construct validity of the scale.
Feasibility
The results show that the Growth mindset scale is applicable across the studied age-span (16–85). One can argue that it is important for the scale to be suitable for different age groups to monitor the life-span development of growth mindset. Simultaneously, having a new scale with focusing on key issues within the growth mindset construct, such as ‘I can get smarter’, ‘Learning is my goal’, ‘Effort makes me stronger’, ‘I would spend more time and work harder’ (Blackwell et al., 2007, pp. 249–250) is beneficial for exploring aspects of motivation.
It is also noteworthy that males have a significant higher growth mindset score than females (M = 4.36 versus M = 4.27). Earlier studies have shown that males tend to score higher than females in relation to passion for achievement (Sigmundsson et al., 2020b). This difference could be related to more dopamine activity associated to selfish reward in males (Soutschek et al., 2017).
Conclusion
Research proves that a growth mindset is important for both achievement and well-being. The results are encouraging and warrant further development of the Growth Mindset Scale.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X24000394
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