Repeated Failures to Change Highlight a Harshness to Growth Mindset

Abstract: Mindset theory distinguishes between people who hold fixed mindsets vs. growth mindsets. The positive effect of growth mindset suggests it is the “better” mindset—one that should lead evaluators to more kindly tolerate and support struggling others. Three experiments both support and qualify this effect, revealing that mindset effects depend on time (in the context of social judgment). When others fail initially, growth mindset evaluators (e.g., managers, teachers, parents) are “kinder” than their fixed mindset counterparts (e.g., they issue less blame and punishment to struggling employees, students, children). However, when others fail repeatedly, growth mindset evaluators grow harsher over time than their fixed mindset counterparts. We discuss how recent failures to replicate the positive effect may not be failures to replicate but rather reflect the changing nature of the construct; growth mindset should not produce positive boosts in contexts of repeated failure, which are embedded within real-world data.

Keywords: Mindset, Performance, Social Judgment, Experiment