Growth Mindset

Based on research by the psychologist Carol Dweck, people can be placed on a continuum according to their beliefs on whether or not their qualities, abilities, and intelligence are unchanging or flexible.  People who believe that their qualities, abilities, and intelligence were provided to them at birth and are unchanging have what is called a fixed mindset while people who believe that their qualities, abilities, and intelligence are flexible and can change have what is called a growth mindset.  People who have a fixed mindset view failure as a character flaw or as proof that they cannot do something.  Therefore, they often avoid situations and activities that have lead to failure in the past and have trouble persisting when they are met with a challenge.  People who have a growth mindset view failure as a learning opportunity and believe that they can improve themselves through hard work and effort.  They do not believe that failure means they are inherently bad or flawed in any way.  They still feel disappointment when they fail but they tend to bounce back more quickly and are more willing to try again.  Having or working on having a growth mindset can lead to greater comfort with taking personal risks, higher motivation, enhanced brain development across wider ranges of tasks, lower stress, anxiety, and depression, better working relationships, and higher performance levels.  Hear a bit more about this concept from psychologist Carol Dweck herself by watching the video below!

To explore the virtual growth mindset room, click on the picture below!

As a note of caution, kids can access YouTube through some of these videos so please be sure to monitor your child when exploring this virtual room.

Examples of the thoughts of the two different types of mindsets can be viewed in the visual below.