Failing to Improve: Investigating When a Growth Mindset Backfires

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Mindsets Unpacked: Considering Contexts, Correlates, and Conditions in Mindset Research (Table 3)

Abstract

Two studies demonstrate an unexpected backfiring effect of a growth mindset. Believing other's academic skills can improve leads to increased blame when students consistently fail to improve. In study 1 we show that when a hypothetical student consistently turns in poor assignments, participants with more growth beliefs blame the student more than participants with more fixed beliefs. In Study 2 we explore this phenomenon in the laboratory by asking participants to teach a confederate who either improves or constantly performs poorly. Results indicate that when the confederate consistently fails to improve, participants induced to hold a growth (vs. fixed) mindset tend to blame them more. Exploratory analyses suggest this relationship is mediated by perceptions of the confederate's effort.

Authors

• Makita White, Washington State University

• Elizabeth A. Canning, Washington State University