Carol Dweck
b. 1946
The distinction between fixed and growth mindsets, and research on how beliefs about ability shape responses to failure.
Carol Dweck (born 1946) is a Stanford psychologist whose research on implicit theories of ability produced the distinction between fixed and growth mindsets.
The research
Working with children in the 1970s and 1980s, Dweck found that pupils of similar ability responded to difficulty in opposite ways. Some treated a hard problem as evidence they lacked the ability and disengaged. Others treated it as a signal to change approach, and several reported enjoying the difficulty.
The difference tracked a belief about ability itself. Children holding ability to be fixed read failure as a verdict on their capacity. Children holding it to be developable read failure as information about method.
Consequences for praise
The finding with the clearest practical edge concerns praise. Praising a child for being clever encourages a fixed view and makes them avoid harder tasks that could threaten the label. Praising the strategy and the effort encourages persistence and a willingness to attempt work they might fail at.
The same structure applies to adults. An organization that rewards appearing capable will get performance theater; one that rewards improvement gets attempts at things people cannot yet do. This is the mechanism underneath deliberate practice, which requires working where failure is frequent.
Replication and correction
Mindset (2006) reached a very large audience and the concept was widely simplified. Subsequent replication work found effects smaller than the popular account implied, particularly for broad interventions delivered at scale. Dweck has agreed with much of this, noting that effects concentrate among students facing difficulty, that a brief intervention cannot change a school's incentives, and that the popular version reduced a belief about ability to a slogan about attitude. See Mindset.
Concept web
Open the full webQuestions
What is the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset?
A fixed mindset treats ability as a stable trait, so failure indicates a limit. A growth mindset treats ability as developable, so failure indicates that the approach needs changing.
Why does praising intelligence backfire?
Because it encourages a fixed view of ability. Children praised for being clever tend to avoid harder tasks that might contradict the label, while those praised for strategy and effort attempt them.
Has mindset research replicated?
Partly. Large-scale replications found smaller effects than the popular account suggested. Effects appear strongest for students already struggling, and Dweck has acknowledged that brief interventions cannot change an environment's incentives.