College students are often urged to "find their passion," but if students believe that passions or interests are fixed, they may not develop interest in fields beyond the academic identity with which they enter college. Can a brief intervention that portrays interests as developable, not fixed, boost interest, and even grades, in…

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…

Knowing what we do not yet know is critical for learning. Nonetheless, people typically overestimate their prowess--but is this true of everyone? Three studies examined who shows overconfidence and why. Study 1 demonstrated that participants with an entity (fixed) theory of intelligence, those known to avoid negative information, showed…

Debates about human nature often revolve around what is built in. However, the hallmark of human nature is how much of a person's identity is not built in; rather, it is humans' great capacity to adapt, change, and grow. This nature versus nurture debate matters--not only to students of human nature--but to everyone. It matters whether people…

The debate over whether intelligence is largely fixed or malleable is not over. What is most exciting, however, is the research from social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience that is highlighting just how malleable intelligence is. Differences in achievement among racial, ethnic, or gender groups have…

Because challenges are ubiquitous, resilience is essential for success in school and in life. In this article we review research demonstrating the impact of students' mindsets on their resilience in the face of academic and social challenges. We show that students who believe (or are taught) that intellectual abilities are qualities that can be…

In her well-known research, Carol Dweck has documented how individuals' attitudes about intelligence affect their behavior and achievement. People with a fixed mindset, she writes, believe that intelligence is inborn and unchangeable, whereas those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can grow through practice and effort. In this…

Much talk about equity in education is about bricks and mortar--about having equal facilities and equal resources. Those factors, although extremely important, are relatively easy to quantify. What may be harder to capture are the beliefs that administrators, teachers, and students hold--beliefs that can have a striking impact on students'…

In a nationwide survey of high school dropouts conducted in 2006, 69 percent said that school had not motivated or inspired them to work hard. The majority of educational reforms have focused on curriculum and pedagogy--what material is taught and how it is taught. However, psychological factors--often called motivational or non-cognitive…

Almost everything educators say to their students sends a message. Some messages enhance students' motivation, but other messages undermine it. What should teachers say to students to send messages that motivate? In a survey given to parents, over 80% of them thought that it was necessary to praise their children's intelligence in order to give…

Educators commonly believe that praising students' intelligence builds their confidence and motivation to learn and that students' inherent intelligence is the major cause of their school achievement. The author's research shows that, on the contrary, praising students' intelligence can be problematic. Praise is intricately connected to how…

Research on implicit beliefs or theories about intelligence has shown that those with entity theories tend to be oriented toward performance goals--that is, toward documenting their intelligence, while those with incremental theories tend to be oriented toward learning goals--that is, toward developing their intelligence. This paper discusses…

Based on extensive research with children and young adults, this book examines adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-motivational patterns and shows how these patterns originate in people's self theories; their consequences for one's achievement, social relationships, and emotional well-being; their consequences for society; and the experiences that…

Assessed the beliefs of first, third, and fifth graders about their ability and achievement and their motivational responses to challenging puzzles. Suggests that individual differences in children's cognition about ability and achievement are related to their motivational responses throughout the school years. Points out ways that these…

Addressing two issues of Dweck and Leggett's (1988) social cognitive theory of personality, this short-term longitudinal field study investigated the relationship between implicit theories about the self and school anxiety among adolescents making the transition to junior high school. It was hypothesized that students who believed that their…