Mindest and Grit
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
Mindsets (the power of people’s beliefs) are ways in which we formulate
our thoughts about our abilities, relationships, and personality that
influences our behaviors and how we feel. Students with a fixed mindset
believe that their own intelligence and talent are innate traits that don’t
change. For example, they might say, “I just can’t learn math.” These
students typically worry about not looking smart, get upset by mistakes, and
give up sooner on tough tasks. With this mindset, people are more likely to
attribute their successes to natural talent. Appearing smart, rather than
learning, is more highly valued with this type of mindset in education and in
the workplace.
Students with a growth mindset believe that ability can change as a
result of effort, perseverance, and practice. They frequently say, “Math is
hard, but if I keep trying, I can get better at it.” Students with a growth mindset
see mistakes as ways to learn, embrace challenges, and persist in the face
of setbacks (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck 2007). With a growth
mindset, a person is more likely to believe that their successes are achieved
through determination and hard work, the use of good strategies, and
feedback from others. In education and the workplace, learning, rather than
appearing smart, is more highly valued with this type of mindset (Dweck,
2006; Dweck 2016).
In an interview for OneDublin.org (Morehead, 2012), Dweck, defined
both fixed and growth mindsets:
“In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their
intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain
amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all
the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand
that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good
teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the
same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get
smarter if they work at it.”
A large part of Dweck’s research on mindsets has been done in the field
of education, and how these mindsets affect a student’s performance in the
classroom. The growth mindset is clearly the more desirable of the two for
students. According to Dweck, individuals with a “growth” theory are more
likely to continue working hard despite setbacks. Individuals’ theories of
intelligence can be affected by subtle environmental cues. For example,
children given praise such as “good job, you’re very smart” are much more
likely to develop a fixed mindset, whereas if given compliments like “good
job, you worked very hard” they are likely to develop a growth mindset.
While elements of our personality – such as sensitivity to mistakes and
setbacks – can make us predisposed towards holding a certain mindset, we
are able to develop and reshape our mindset through our interactions
(Aldhous, 2008). In multiple studies, Carol Dweck and her colleagues noted
that alterations in mindset could be achieved through “praising the process
through which success was achieved” (Cimpian, Aree, Markman, & Dweck,
2007), “having [college aged students] read compelling scientific articles
that support one view or the other” (Aldhous), or teaching junior high school
students “that every time they try hard and learn something new, their brain
forms new connections that, over time, make them smarter” (Dweck, 2007).
These studies all demonstrate how framing and discussing students’ work
and effort play a considerable role in the type of mindset students develop
and students’ conceptions of their own ability.
Dweck and Jo Boaler have done extensive research on the topics of
fixed and growth mindset. However, studies on mindset depict results that
show that there is a disparity in the fixed and growth mindsets of female and
male students. In Boaler’s (2013) research, she notes that fixed mindset
beliefs lead to inequalities in education and are a main reason for low
achievement and participation amongst minorities and female students.
Many women feel as though they are not smart enough nor capable enough
to continue in certain subjects, such as STEM areas of academia, stating
that, “gender differences in mathematics performance only existed among
fixed mindset students” (Boaler, 2013).
Dweck’s research and theory of growth and fixed mindsets has been
useful in intervention strategies with at risk students, dispelling negative
stereotypes in education held by teachers and students, understanding the
impacts of self-theories on resilience, and understanding how process
praise can foster a growth mindset and positively impact students’
motivation levels (Veronikas and Shaughnessy, 2004). What students
believe about their own intelligence can affect their effort, engagement,
motivation, and achievement as measured by test scores, school grades,
passing rate in post-secondary education, and other metrics (Aronson,
Fried, & Good, 2002; Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck 2007; Dweck,
Walton, & Cohen, 2011; Yeager, Walton, & Cohen, 2013).
Why This Matters: A growth mindset may contribute to better grades in
school and a willingness to take on new challenges
1. Lower Failure Rates: Low-achieving students at 13 California high
schools failed 7% fewer courses and improved their GPAs by .18
grade points after a one-period class designed to boost growth
mindset (Yeager, Walton, & Cohen, 2013).
2. Improved Scores: When a group of struggling 7th grade students in
New York City learned to 1) think of their brains as muscles that grow
with exercise and 2) visualize new connections developing within
their brains, their motivation and math scores improved at a time
when math achievement typically declines (Blackwell, Trzesniewski,
& Dweck 2007).
3. Increased Effort: Seventh-grade students receiving growthmindset
feedback (“I’m giving you these comments because I have high
standards and know that you can meet them.”) were twice as likely
to revise and resubmit an assignment compared to students who
received generic feedback (Yeager, Walton, & Cohen, 2013).
4. More Problems Solved: Students who saw a growth mindsetrelated
message (e.g., “When you learn a new kind of math problem, you
grow your math brain!”) correctly solved 3-5% more online math
problems compared to those who didn’t see growth mindset-related
messages. The effect carried over to the next math topic the
students tackled (Yeager, Walton, & Cohen, 2013).
Students with a fixed mindset often do not realize that they can change
their mindset and settle with an attitude that they cannot do better. But with
a growth mind set attitude students can do anything they want as long as
they work hard and consistent until they reach their goals.
Examples of a Fixed Mindset
The following is an example of how a student with a fixed mindset might
discuss their struggles in school:
Since I could remember, I never did well in school and struggled. I
felt that there was nothing I could do to change who I was. I was just not
smart. I have started and stopped my education many times. I have quit
programs and changed majors when it got to be too much. I felt that I
could never get far because I simply did not have the intelligence others
did. I get frustrated and overwhelmed and the stress gets to me so much
that I panic and slip into deep depression.
Here is an example of how a fixed mindset would impact someone
struggling with issues in their personal life:
The past few years of my life have been quite hard in terms of family
dynamics, personal and family health struggles, financial hardships,
and much more. There have been many times when I wanted to quit
school completely and sometimes not even wanted to get out of my
house. I had no reason to live as I felt that I was never going to get through
all of these challenges in my life. I guess I just have bad luck and failure
is my destiny. I can’t change anything.
Examples of a Growth Mindset
The following is an example of how a student with a growth mindset
might discuss their struggles in school:
I was always on my own. Meaning, I had no one to go to for help. My
parents didn’t speak or read English well at the time, so I always did my
homework on my own, I struggled and felt alone. But something
happened in college, and I finally knew that it was o.k. to ask for help and
I no longer had to struggle quietly. I began to be disciplined and did my
homework, went to class and asked questions. I knew that I might not
have been the smartest person, but I understood if I wanted something
really bad that I had to work hard for it. Here I am almost done with my
Associate degree and getting ready to transfer, something I did not
believe would ever happen. My attitude and my mind set has changed to
believe that if I want to push myself to get something done, that I can. I
never knew I could and I will never give up regardless of what comes my
way.
Here is an example of how someone with a growth mindset would
handle struggles in their personal life:
I found myself homeless taking care of my three children. One day I
thought to myself how did I get here and how can I change my situation. I got
married young and had children young, my husband was abusive and left us.
I could no longer sustain paying my bills and found myself in shelters and on
the streets. With so much negative going on in my life, I knew that I needed
help. I began to use the community services to help reinvent myself. I needed
new skills to find a job, find a place to live and provide an opportunity for my
children to have a chance at this life. My priority was their safety and I knew
that being on the streets was not safe for them. I wanted to give up at times,
but I was reminded that I was not alone. I found my new path and I enrolled
in college with a new attitude that gave me hope. I am on my way to a new
way of life and I know that I can do it.
Now that you’ve had a chance to read through examples of fixed and
growth mindsets, you should have developed a better understanding of the
types of language and thoughts are associated with each. You are now
prepared to help shift your own thinking to align with a growth mindset and
catch yourself when you express more fixed mindset thinking. Another
skillset that will help you with this is GRIT, which we will discuss next.
What is GRIT?
According to Angela Duckworth, author of “GRIT,” grit is a combination
of passion and perseverance used to achieve a long-term, challenging goal.
For some, GRIT can be thought of as a combination of guts (courage),
resilience (flexibility), initiative (taking action) and tenacity (refusal to give
up).
The concept of grit, originally articulated by Duckworth et al. (2007), has
developed and expanded in parallel with the field of positive psychology.
Indeed Seligman (2011) in his major textbook “Flourish,” devoted an entire
chapter to the concept. Of course, further research will either lead to the
consolidation of the importance of grit, or will suggest there are other more
important constructs, such as the longer established concept of resilience
(Werner, 1996). In this section, we will look more in depth at the concept of
GRIT.
One of the pillars of Psychology has been research into intelligence,
which has looked at both theoretical and applied aspects of the concept.
Clinical psychologists have relied on various iterations of the intelligence
scales originally developed by Wechsler (1955). This is now on its fifth
version (Wechsler, 2010; Hubbard and Hare, 2015). Though called the WAIS
IV (the first version was called the Wechsler–Bellevue Scale, but the Bellevue
Hospital name was dropped from all subsequent versions). However,
research began to show certain contradictions that revealed individuals of
an equal or lesser IQ were consistently outperforming their “more
intelligent” counterparts (Duckworth et al., 2007). Indeed, in many cases,
individuals with a lower or average IQ were achieving higher qualifications,
obtaining more influential job roles and receiving a higher income
(Duckworth et al., 2007).
Subsequently, there was a shift in research focus toward the
importance of non-cognitive traits and factors in predicting and measuring
achievement and success. Although the concepts such as perseverance,
mindsets and goal driven behaviors which are identified to be non-cognitive
traits were studied earlier in the field of education (Londoner, 1972; Levy and
Dweck, 1998). A greater focus on the importance of these non-cognitive
traits in this field was made popular by Angela Duckworth, who was mainly
concerned with the concept of grit. This can be divided into two sub-
components; perseverance of effort and consistency of interest and the
importance of fostering grit to enhance personal achievement and success.
Duckworth et al. (2007, pp. 1087–1088) states that grit involves
“working strenuously towards challenges, maintaining effort and interest
over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress.” Also,
Duckworth stresses the importance of stamina in grit, and describes a
“gritty” individual as somebody who treats their success and achievement
as a marathon, rather than a sprint. Prior to Duckworth developing her
research into non-cognitive predictors of academic success, educational
research had focused on the more traditional measures of academic
outcomes and less focus into non-cognitive traits. Thus, the research of
Duckworth generated a shift in research focus into predominantly
considering non-cognitive traits, such as grit, that showed an individual’s
character was much more influential to their academic success.
Throughout the last decade of research into the construct of grit and its
many applications, it has been recorded that there are certain demographic
differences in grit. Certain individuals are said to be more likely to develop
grit and persevere in the face of adversity. Grit has been shown to correlate
with gender (Flaming and Granato, 2017), with females scoring higher in grit
than their male counterparts (Jaeger et al., 2010; Christensen and Knezek,
2014; Aswini and Amrita, 2017); and age (Cupitt and Golshan, 2015).
Grit has been posited as a highly influential construct linked to
academic success and achievement. It has been found that grit is
associated with academic productivity and engagement (Hodge et al.,
2017); academic motivation (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014); academic
achievement (Pate et al., 2017); perseverance in challenging tasks (Lucas et
al., 2015); academic performance (Kelly et al., 2014); amount of hours
studying (Cross, 2014); learning strategies (Weisskirch, 2016); task values
and goal orientation (Muenks et al., 2017, 2018); the pursuit and attainment
of postgraduate training (Palisoc et al., 2017), and the retention of students
(Crede et al., 2017). However, there are also some studies suggesting that
grit is not a predictor of academic achievement and performance (Ivcevic
and Brackett, 2014; Bazelais et al., 2016; Muenks et al., 2017; Palisoc et al.,
2017).
Grit is also is strongly related to well-being. It has been shown that grit
is positively correlated with happiness (Singh and Jha, 2008); satisfaction
and a sense of belonging (Bowman et al., 2015); purpose commitment (Hill
et al., 2014); psychological well-being (Goodman et al., 2017); value and
self-efficacy (Muenks et al., 2017, 2018); self-esteem (Weisskirch, 2016); a
growth mindset (Duckworth et al., 2007; Hochanadel and Finamore, 2015);
pursuing engagement and pleasure in life (Von Culin et al., 2014); higher
mental health (Sharkey et al., 2017); emotional stability during stressful or
negative life events (Blalock et al., 2015); and a sense of meaning in life (Von
Culin et al., 2014).
Negative correlations between grit and certain psychological outcomes
have also been established. Research has revealed a negative correlation
between grit and perceived stress, arguing that “psychological resources,
particularly grit, make students less prone to stress.” While there is a positive
association between perceived academic failure and stress (Lee, 2017). This
research suggests that focusing on stress management may reduce
perceived academic failure, enhance grit and, in turn, improve academic
success and personal achievement.
Perhaps not surprisingly in a time of major neuroscientific advance,
recent research has also revealed an association between grit and personal
achievement linked to the brain activation of a specific area of the brain. The
neural substrate for grit has been identified as being located in the
dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) (Figure 3.8), the region also said to
be responsible for concepts such as self-regulation, planning, goal-setting,
and reflection of past experiences (Wang et al., 2017). However, this
structural knowledge regarding the neural basis of grit should not discourage
the idea that grit is a construct that can be fostered and built upon.
A growth mindset has been strongly associated with the presence of grit
in individuals (Hochanadel and Finamore, 2015) and an academic
environment that promotes growth is likely to foster gritty students who will
learn to persist through challenges (Duckworth et al., 2007; Hochanadel and
Finamore, 2015). As you have read, there are many benefits to possessing
grit and developing a growth mindset.
