Mindsets
Bill Watterson's take on mindsets.
I want to tell you the coolest thing I know. It’s not even astronomy related -- and you know how crazy I am about astronomy! So you can bet I
think it’s important. What I have learned about the topic of Mindsets lately has changed my personal worldview profoundly. I find it relevant not
just to college classes, but to practically all areas in my life -- right down to my family relationships, and my motivation to exercise.
Research on motivational psychology has shown two different kinds of mindsets that people can have: "fixed", and "growth". People tend to be, in
any domain or discipline, of one mindset or the other. This applies to everyone, not just students. Also teachers, parents, bosses, children,
professional athletes, politicians, beekeepers -- everyone. This is applicable to many areas of life, too -- not just academic performance in a formal
education setting. Also music, sports, art, business, social relationships (!), ethical behavior, and others.
The fixed mindset is rooted in the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait. The growth mindset comes out of the belief that intelligence is a quality
that can be changed and developed.
(Dweck, 2008). Which mindset you're in
depends on how you view your ability to
grow intellectually.
People with a fixed mindset feel that
they pretty much have to live with the
hand that they’re dealt. If you've ever
heard someone say "I'm not a math
person", or "I'm not artistic", or "I'm
uncoordinated", these are hallmarks of a
fixed mindset. If they think they're bad
at something, they are resigned. But
oftentimes, interestingly, someone can
have a fixed mindset and actually be
quite good at something. But even with
a long history of successes and
accomplishments, a person with a fixed
mindset still has a feeling of resignation
and helplessness about their ability.
They are preoccupied with proving
themselves. They spend their whole life
trying to prove that they’re as good as
they think (or hope) they are. As Dweck says, if you have a fixed mindset you are “always trying to convince yourself and others that you have a
royal flush when you’re secretly worried it’s a pair of tens.” They don’t want to look like they don’t know stuff, or can't do stuff. They are
hyperaware of how others view them, and very self-conscious. Much of their behavior acts a defense against this vulnerability.
People with a growth mindset feel that they just START with the hand they're dealt. But they believe that if they take advantage of
opportunities, they can grow. They value the process more than then outcome. In Dweck's words, they believe that "everyone can change and
grow through application and experience." "They believe that a person's true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it's impossible to
foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training." (Dweck, 2008)
Here are some example characteristics of the two different mindsets:
People in the fixed mindset avoid challenges. Because if you can’t do math, why would you try to do hard math? It would expose you as
somebody who can’t do math. Or if you're an expert violinist and you can play a Mozart violin concerto flawlessly and so beautifully as to bring
your music teacher and friends and relatives to tears, why would you tackle a brand new Beethoven violin concerto? It would make you sound like
a bumbling novice. But people in the growth mindset welcome challenges. They see them as a way to expand their skills.
People in the fixed mindset give up easily in the face of obstacles. (This is
sometimes misdiagnosed as laziness by teachers.) An obstacle is a great
excuse not to do something. But in the growth mindset, an obstacle is a
challenge that, when surmounted, can help expand their skills.
People in the fixed mindset, when they've decided they are not good at
something, may not be effortful. They think effort won’t make a difference.
And if you have to try, it exposes you as not good or smart anyway. You
should be naturally talented. But people in the growth mindset, when they
recognize that they're not good at something (yet), see effort as the path to
mastery. If they can't do that problem yet, they resolve to try even harder.
Note: I think there is also an intermediate possibility here, which may make
it hard to distinguish between the mindsets based on effort: A person may
think they're being effortful, but expending effort on unproductive things that
are not really helping their cause (e.g. going through the motions of athletic
training, studying superficially, passively re-reading or highlighting, etc.).
When these activities do not bring success, this fosters or reinforces the fixed
belief that effort is useless. Much more important than the amount of time
you put in is the level of difficulty of your effort. Real effort means pushing
yourself to the point of discomfort, not just doing what's familiar and
comfortable.
People in the fixed mindset ignore negative criticism. They are offended by
it. It feels like a personal affront to their self-worth. People in the growth
mindset attend to negative criticism. They even appreciate it. It helps them
identify and home in on their weaknesses, so they can work on improving
them.
The fixed mindset can make one feel threatened by the success of others.
If somebody else is doing well, a person in the fixed mindset may feel like it
makes them look bad: It shows they're not as good as the other person. The
growth mindset sees the success of others as inspirational, uplifting, and
motivating. If somebody else can do it, it shows it can be done! People in the growth mindset may be more likely to work with others to
accomplish a goal collaboratively.
I'm not even going to pretend to be unbiased here about the two mindsets. I strongly believe that the growth mindset is better. For one thing, it
has the virtue of being correct: The truth is, intelligence can grow. The brain, like a muscle, gets
stronger and works better the more it is exercised. Every time you work hard, stretch yourself, and
learn something new, your brain forms new neural synapses. Over time, you actually become
smarter. The old idea that the brain is static is
wrong. Qualities like “talent”, “ability”, “IQ”, and
“giftedness” are NOT permanent attributes, and they
are not innate and out of our control. In fact I feel
that these terms should not be used at all, because
they are highly suggestive of fixed attributes.
Anyone can improve their ability through hard work,
especially if the work they do specifically targets
their weaknesses.
“The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to their craft, and
particularly, the way in which they identify, confront, and take pains to remedy their weaknesses”
(Good, Rattan, & Dweck, 2008).
In other words, it’s not what you are born with that matters; it’s your mindset that matters.
OK, if you've hung on with me this far, now I'm going to get personal. I felt like crying when I learned about mindsets at the age of 35 (last year!).
I wished I'd learned about it 25 years ago. It was one of those rare, big, course-altering, "aha" moments in my life. I realized I had always had a
fixed mindset.
My whole life, especially as a kid, I was always told I was “smart”. I was placed in the "gifted and talented" program in school. My two older
siblings were "the popular one", "the funny one", and I was "the smart one". I saw it as a way to distinguish myself. But I have now learned by
reading Dr. Dweck's work that this kind of praise, sorting, and labeling of kids, even coming from the most loving and well-meaning parents and
teachers, is actually de-motivational and damaging, and breeds the fixed mindset. (Note: Don’t praise your kids this way!! See the references at
the bottom of the page for more information about applying these ideas to parenting, and more constructive ways to praise.) Once branded
"smart", I craved that approval. I came to need it as a continued affirmation of my self worth. I brought home all As on my report card, and if I
ever got a B+, I was ashamed. I felt a need to be the best at the things I did, especially academics. It wasn't enough to be good. I constantly
measured myself by external metrics: test scores, GPAs, athletic wins, and musical performances. When college and graduate school got difficult, I
wrestled with "imposter syndrome" and worried endlessly that I didn't deserve to be there; that I'd be discovered to be a fraud. I almost quit
school. And even when school was long over, in my personal life, I continued to exhibit fixed mindset traits. I got frustrated, cranky, and even
belligerent when I tried to learn something new if it wasn't immediately easy. Just ask my poor husband about the time he tried to teach me to
play bridge. Yikes. I passed up learning opportunities because they would be difficult and uncomfortable. When I didn't succeed in something, or if
I made a mistake, I always tried to assign blame -- either to another person(s), or to circumstances beyond my control. In my career too, I was
fixed: I craved the approval of my peers and superiors. I was constantly self-conscious and wondering if I was really good or not. If somebody
didn't comment on what a great job I'd done, I felt like I failed. For a high achiever like me, who had a lot of successes along the way, I felt like a
failure most of the time. That's not a happy place to be. ☹
Why should you care about mindsets in this class? And why am I spending a long page of reading, plus a discussion board assignment on it? To be
sure, I hope that this helps you be happier people in your personal lives, but that is not my only motivation here. I am your teacher after all, and
I'm here to help you learn astronomy. So here's the clincher: Students with a growth mindset learn more. Period. Researchers tracked students
who began with equal skills, and found that students with the growth mindset learned much more, steadily pulling away from their fixed mindset
peers. And that is relevant in this class. In all your classes. So my intent is to give you this tool to improve your learning -- in this class and
beyond.
Luckily, we can change our mindset. Hallelujah! Otherwise this whole foray into motivational psychology would have been just totally depressing
for a lot of us. I've been reading all about mindsets these last few months and my New Year's resolution from now until forever is to change to a
growth mindset in several different areas of my life. And I'm going to challenge you, Astronomy students, to adopt a growth mindset toward this
class (if you don't have one already), and to think about other areas of your life where you have room to become more growth-y. Here are some
steps to moving more toward a growth mindset, in any area:
1. Learn, learn, learn. You can do this throughout your life, but there is no better time to do this than when you are formally a student! When
you’re in college, it’s your job to learn. Here are some real quotes about learning from students who embody the two mindsets:
Fixed: “The main thing I want to do in college is to show others how good I am.”
Growth: “It’s much more important for me to learn than to get top grades.”
2. Realize hard work is key. If you’re not working hard, you’re not making real progress. Like with physical
exercise: “no pain no gain”. How much do you improve your running ability by jogging slowly? How
much do you improve your strength by lifting easy weights? Try to work at the edge of your ability, and
beyond. Yes, it should be uncomfortable. You should make mistakes. And it takes a lot of time. A key
realization for me was that struggle is a sign of progress. In fact, struggle was necessary for progress.
I had always assumed that struggle meant I was failing.
Fixed: “When I have to work really hard in a subject, I don’t feel very smart.”
Growth: “The harder I have to work at something, the more effort I put into something, the
better I’ll be at it.”
3. Face setbacks constructively. And there will be setbacks! If there aren’t, you’re not pushing yourself
hard enough.
Fixed: Students tended to fail to recover from an initial poor grade. They reacted by
withdrawing:
“I’d spend less time on this subject from now on.”
“I would try not to take this subject ever again.”
“I would try to cheat on the next test.”
Growth: Students tended to be able to recover successfully from a poor grade. They reacted by digging in:
“I would work harder in class from now on.”
“I would spend more time studying for the test.”
Things to keep in mind if you are trying to move from a fixed to growth mindset:
Focus on effort, struggle, and persistence despite setbacks. Remember that struggle is necessary for growth, not a sign of failure.
Choose difficult tasks. Move past easy ones.
Reflect on different strategies that work and don’t work. Let go of ones that don't work and be willing to try new ones.
Focus on learning and improving, not comparing yourself to others.
Don't assign blame to external factors when things don't go how you want.
Seek out challenges. Create challenges for yourself if need be.
Work hard, with an emphasis on the difficulty of the work, not just the total time put in.
In your discussion board assignment (link opens in new window) on Angel for this week, you will be asked to think and write about how mindsets
apply in your life. This semester, this webpage, represents the very first time I'm introducing the idea of mindsets to one of my undergraduate
classes. (I test drove it on my graduate students last semester and they loved it.) While I did enjoy their approval ;), in true growth mindset
fashion, I'm opening myself up to constructive criticism. I want to make this as useful as possible to you, so please give me your honest reactions
in your writing. I'm curious if you have learned about mindsets before from another source, and if not, how this information comes across to you
upon hearing it for the first time. I look forward to reading your thoughts!
Summary of some Fixed vs. Growth mindset traits:
References:
Dweck, Carol S., “Mindset. The new Psychology of Success. How we can learn to fulfill our potential.”, Ballantine Books, 2008.
Resources and links from Dr. Dweck, and a mindset "quiz" to test your mindset: http://mindsetonline.com/
Some text taken from: http://www4.esu.edu/academics/enrichment_learning/documents/pdf/developing_growth_mindset.pdf
Some text and images taken from: http://rampaks.com/read/mindset-dweck
B&W table from: http://hdfs861.weebly.com/character-development-growth-mindset.html
Applications to parenting: "How not to talk to your kids": http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
and also: https://raisinghappykidsblog.wordpress.com/growth-mindset/
Astro 6: Stars and Galaxies, Dr. Kregenow, Spring 2015
Discussion Board Assignment #5: Mindsets
one new post AND reply required
deadline: Wed Feb 25, 11:55pm sharp due with HW5
New Post Threaded View
All teams
[] Directions
**************************************************
This discussion is about Mindsets, discussed on this onepage reading (link opens in
new window). Before proceeding, make sure you have carefully read that page.
**************************************************
People are not necessarily all one mindset or the other you might have one mindset in
one area of life, and another mindset in another. This will be relevant in the writing
assignment below.
Resource: There are some mindsets quizzes you can take to help you identify which
mindset you have. There is one you can take online on Carol Dweck's website
(http://mindsetonline.com/testyourmindset/step1.php), and another one you can
download as a PDF here. (these are optional)
Your assignment is to write about the following:
A. What was your reaction to learning about these mindsets? (If you have
learned about this topic elsewhere please say where.) Do you think this will be
helpful to you, or not, and WHY?
B. Think about your own life, or that of a close loved one. Identify one area
where you (or they) have a fixed mindset, and one where you have a growth
mindset. Explain how you know.
C. For the area above where you identified yourself as having a fixed mindset
(or another area you want to change), describe some specific steps you could
take to move toward a more growth mindset.
In order to receive full credit for this assignment, please be sure to:
(0) Read the page about Mindsets here on Angel, linked above, at the very top. (20%)
(1) Post your own answer in your own words, addressing all parts of the posed
questions. Make a new post by clicking "New Post" near the upper left. (60%)
(2) Read all your classmates' posts.
(3) Choose a classmate's post to reply to: Click "Reply" to make your own comments on
(3) Choose a classmate's post to reply to: Click "Reply" to make your own comments on
what they said whether you agree, disagree, or have any other comments, it is up to
you. (20%)
If you are the very first one in your group to post (way to be on the ball!), you will have
to check back later to wait for other posts to appear. DO NOT SKIP STEPS (2) and (3)! If
you post first and ALL of your classmates post on the very last day (procrastinators!),
then you may have up to two extra days beyond the deadline to post your reply.
As an incentive to post early, the first TWO people to post in each discussion group will
receive a small amount of extra credit on their grade for this assignment: 2% bonus for
the first person to post, and 1% bonus for the second.
If you have any questions, please contact Angel Support
