Past research has shown that hostile schemas and adverse experiences predict the hostile attributional bias. This research proposes that seemingly nonhostile beliefs (implicit theories about the malleability of personality) may also play a role in shaping it. Study 1 meta-analytically summarized 11 original tests of this hypothesis (N = 1,659),…

Adolescents are often resistant to interventions that reduce aggression in children. At the same time, they are developing stronger beliefs in the fixed nature of personal characteristics, particularly aggression. The present intervention addressed these beliefs. A randomized field experiment with a diverse sample of Grades 9 and 10 students (ages…

Fourth and fifth graders viewed a slide show that depicted a boy displaying negative behaviors and that had a negative consistent or a positive inconsistent ending. Children who believed that personality is fixed, but not children who believed personality is malleable, did not differ in their ratings of the boy in the consistent- and…

Two studies examined sixth graders' personality theories on stereotype formation. Compared to those with malleable views, children with fixed views of personality made more extreme trait ratings of schools characterized positively or negatively, generalized judgments to an unknown student, perceived greater within-school similarity and…

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…