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The Origins of Children's Growth and Fixed Mindsets: New Research and a New Proposal
Author(s) -
Haimovitz Kyla,
Dweck Carol S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12955
Subject(s) - psychology , perspective (graphical) , context (archaeology) , trait , developmental psychology , process (computing) , quality (philosophy) , social psychology , epistemology , paleontology , philosophy , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology , programming language , operating system
Children's mindsets about intelligence (as a quality they can grow vs. a trait they cannot change) robustly influence their motivation and achievement. How do adults foster “growth mindsets” in children? One might assume that adults act in ways that communicate their own mindsets to children. However, new research shows that many parents and teachers with growth mindsets are not passing them on. This article presents a new perspective on why this is the case, and reviews research on adult practices that do instill growth mindsets, concluding that a sustained focus on the process of learning is critical. After discussing key implications and promising future directions, we consider the topic in the context of important societal issues, like high‐stakes testing.