Attribution Theory: The conclusions that a student comes to about their successes and failures lead them to develop different mindsets, falling into learned helplessness, or become confident in their ability to achieve success. If, for example, a student attributes their failures to uncontrollable stable factors, they will stop trying to succeed because they are not in control, and that will never change. On the other hand, if a student attributes success to internal controllable factors, they will believe that their personal effort pays off.
Fixed Mindset: A student's mindset directly correlates to the way that they behave in the classroom, and their willingness to learn. When a student has a fixed mindset, they believe that people are born with all the intelligence they will ever have. These students are concerned that they may be unintelligent, and in their minds, struggle proves that they "aren't smart" (The Perils and Promises of Praise, p. 34). When subjects become more challenging, these students lose their confidence and motivation. Because of this, students with fixed mindsets prefer unchallenging assignments, though their insecurities and disinterest remain even after returning to familiar tasks. These students are more likely to lie or make excuses about their schoolwork (The Perils and Promises of Praise, p. 36).
Learned Helplessness: Fixed mindsets and learned helplessness are directly tied to one another. Students who have learned to be helpless will give up on assignments before even trying. They believe that success is completely out of their hands, and therefore, there is no reason to try in the first place. These students fail because they do not believe that they can succeed.
Growth Mindset: Students with growth mindsets understand that their brains grow through struggle, just like muscles (The Perils and Promises of Praise, p. 38). Rather than cultivating a sense of pride surrounding their ability to effortlessly rush through an assignment, these students feel accomplished after struggling through an assignment and completing it to the best of their ability. Growth mindsets encourage students to persevere, stay engaged, develop learning strategies, and improve over time. Whenever these students make mistakes, they correct them (The Perils and Promises of Praise, p. 36).
Self-efficacy: Because self-efficacy is faith in one's ability to reach a desired result through one's own effort, it is closely integrated with a growth mindset. These students separate their self-esteem from their success and therefore have the resilience to fail without losing confidence. If they are motivated to reach a goal, these students know that they can.
Dweck, C. S. (2007). The perils and promises of praise. Educational Leadership, 10, 34-39.
Dweck, C. S. (2010). Even geniuses work hard. Educational Leadership, 9, 16-20.