How Teachers’ and Students’ Mindsets in Learning Have Been Studied: Research Findings on Mindset and Academic Achievement

Empirical research on mindset has indicated that mindset can predict numerous individual achievement, including academic, cognitive, motivational, affective and even socioeconomic, through mediation of social-cognitive approaches. The purpose of this paper is to compile and synthesize articles published from 1998 to 2017 on the relationship between mindset and academic achievement and explore the role of mindset in academic achievement. The studies indicate that students’ mindsets play several roles of cause and mediator in academic achievement. Mindset can also be an outcome of students’ academic achievement. Furthermore, in some studies, the relationship between mindset and achievement is non-correlational. Meanwhile, teachers’ mindsets play the role of cause or mediator in students’ academic achievement, but no role of outcome. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.