Tara Parker-Pope
THE WASHINGTON POST – How much do you agree with this statement? “You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it.”
While there’s no right or wrong answer, your reaction offers insights into whether you lean toward a “growth mindset” or a “fixed mindset.” The statement is part of an assessment tool developed by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, whose book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success continues to influence how educators and managers teach, critique and motivate students and workers.
If you think you can’t change much, then you lean toward a “fixed” mindset. People with a fixed mindset often limit themselves to situations where they feel confident, and they may feel insecure when those around them are successful.
A “growth” mindset reflects a belief that people can change, basic intelligence is mutable and new skills can be learned with effort. People with a growth mindset tend to thrive on feedback and are inspired by the success of others.
A growth mindset, Dweck said, is a belief that “brains and talent are just the starting point.”
But the reality is that mindset probably exists on a continuum, and we all have some combination of growth and fixed mindsets. As a result, psychologists are studying how our environment – such as working for a goal-oriented boss or having a social media network of high-achievers – can trigger a growth or fixed mindset in different situations.
The research not only has implications for how individuals perform at work or in school, it also suggests that teachers, managers, colleagues and friends all play a role in shaping our mindset. For instance, one 2019 study showed that students who took an online growth mindset programme got better grades. But when they went back into classrooms with teachers who had fixed mindsets, they didn’t perform as well.
“We’ve learned that virtually everybody has both mindsets, but they have different defaults,” Dweck said in an interview. “Even when people are usually in more of a growth mindset, there are situations that can trigger people into a fixed mindset, where they start saying, ‘Maybe I just don’t have what it takes.’”
MINDSET AND THE BRAIN
Many people in today’s millennial workforce grew up before growth mindset teaching took hold in the educational system. But the workplace, and how managers give feedback, also can trigger fixed or growth mindset thinking. So can social media, which subjects users to constant social comparison and can trigger feelings that you’re just not measuring up to your peers.
Research has shown brain differences in people who adopt a growth mindset. In a study published earlier this year in the journal Neuroscience, having a higher growth mindset score was associated with higher grey matter volume in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with goals and decision-making.
Another experiment compared the brains of people who have growth mindsets with those who have fixed mindsets as they were given trivia tests.
The brain images suggested that after missing a question, people with a growth mindset were more attentive to the correct answer, while those with fixed mindsets appeared less interested in learning the right answer and instead showed an emotional response to getting the question wrong.
HOW EXPERIENCES CAN SHAPE MINDSET
One problem with trying to assess “mindset” is that it’s pretty easy to figure out which one – growth or fixed – is more desirable. Even if you don’t personally believe you can change, you may answer a mindset assessment based on what you think you should be saying.
“People start thinking that having a growth mindset makes you a better all-around human being, and no one wants to fess up to being ‘fixed,’” said co-founder of the Growth Mindset Institute Susan Mackie in Melbourne, Australia. “It meant that people started to feel they should hide their fixed mindsets. Instead, people start saying, ‘I have a growth mindset.’
Simply saying you have a growth mindset does not always mean you have one.”
But now psychologists are studying how external forces – education systems, workplace culture and social pressures – can influence mindset.
The findings suggest that while you may lean toward a fixed or growth mindset, the reason may be due to the culture of your workplace or a circle of friends who dwell on social comparisons.
“I would say the biggest change in mindset work is really moving from focusing on student and individual mindset and thinking about mindset as a cultural feature in organisations, teams and schools,” said professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences Mary Murphy at Indiana University at Bloomington. “It’s not so much about how do we change people’s minds and mindsets. The question is: How do we change systems, cultures, policies and norms that move people between fixed and growth mindsets.”
While some researchers have questioned how meaningful mindset interventions really are, a recent meta-analysis concluded that despite some variation in study results, overall the interventions have been shown to be effective.
One explanation for the varying results may be the “false growth mindset,” a term coined by Mackie. Some educators and employers wrongly think a growth mindset simply means having an open mind and praising effort alone, she said. A true growth mindset also involves trying new strategies and seeking help when one is stuck.
“Not all of us will become a concert pianist, even with a lot of effort,” Mackie said. “We need to help people find the right strategies and apply effort in the right areas.”
TRIGGERS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
Whether you’re personally trying to change your mindset or you’re a manager giving feedback, it’s important to understand how different situations can influence a person’s mindset. Here are some examples:
Feedback and praise: In people with a fixed mindset, even positive feedback – like “you’re really good at this!” – can trigger anxiety, because the person doesn’t know how they might replicate the achievement in the future.
More specific praise can nudge workers toward a growth mindset. “The slides in your presentation were clear and concise” or “good job collaborating with other teams”.
Even a person with a growth mindset might be triggered into fixed mindset thinking if a performance review simply gave a score, without constructive feedback explaining how to improve.
Murphy noted that if you have a boss who tends to give general feedback, don’t be afraid to ask questions. “What specifically did you like about my work?”
High-effort situations: Difficult projects can trigger people with a tendency towards a fixed mindset who may assume they are the only one struggling. A college professor who says, “If you’re not a maths person, you should drop this class,” will reinforce fixed mindset thinking.
But managers can also spur a growth mindset when they assign a difficult project.
“To structure for a growth mindset, a manager could say, ‘This is going to require a lot of effort and time, but we’ll give you the resources you need to manage this,’” Murphy said. “It normalises that effort is going to be needed.”
Staying in your comfort zone: One mistake managers and individuals can make is always playing to a specific strength. “You’re good at technical tasks” or “you’re good at presentations”. This triggers fixed mindset thinking because it reinforces that someone is good at only one thing. “That’s not an opportunity for learning or development,” Murphy said.
“And it tells other people they are not good at that thing,” added Dweck.
Success of others: Fixed mindset thinkers often feel anxious when they see others succeed, feeling as if they don’t measure up.
People with a growth mindset, meanwhile, see the achievement as something they can model and accomplish themselves one day.
But how success is shared can trigger a different mindset. Heaping lavish praise on an employee’s intelligence – perhaps she has a PhD – can trigger a fixed mindset response in co-workers, who know they will never achieve that level of education.
But if the boss cites hard work, careful attention to detail, collaboration with co-workers and excellent time management, that’s more likely to create a growth mindset among fellow workers, who have just learnt how the person became successful.
“Just saying ‘great job’ focusses on the outcome, and nobody can learn from it. That can move people toward a fixed mindset,” said Murphy. “There is a way to praise that moves everyone towards a growth mindset because they learn what was done well.”
Social media: Seeing people on social media boast about their achievements or efficient morning routines, with perfectly made beds before heading to work, often doesn’t inspire.
Instead it can make people who try to mimic those behaviours feel inadequate, nudging them toward a fixed mindset.
“Maybe that routine is good for them, but we grow in our own ways,” said Dweck. “We have to find the ways that takes us where we want to go. Imitating someone else’s recipe is not the answer.”
Instead, Dweck advised focusing on “growth, learning and longer-term goals that are personally meaningful to you”.
