Participants in a study were asked to reflect on navigating real adversities. (© Cherries - stock.adobe.com)
Study suggests growth mindset key to outperforming others
TRONDHEIM, Norway — In classrooms, boardrooms, and athletic fields across the world, people with a “growth mindset” consistently outperform their peers. Now, for the first time, scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed a reliable way to measure this crucial trait — and their findings challenge conventional wisdom about who possesses it.
The study, published in New Ideas in Psychology, introduces an eight-question scale that effectively measures growth mindset — the belief that personal abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and persistence. Testing the scale on 723 participants ranging from ages 16 to 85, the researchers found it to be reliable across age groups and more comprehensive than previous measurement tools.
A growth mindset has become an increasingly important concept in psychology, education, and personal development. People with a growth mindset believe their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and persistence. In contrast, those with a “fixed mindset” tend to believe their basic qualities, like intelligence or talent, are static traits that can’t be changed significantly.
The research team, led by Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson from NTNU’s Department of Psychology and Professor Monika Haga from the Department of Teacher Education, developed their new scale to measure growth mindset more broadly than existing tools. Their scale asks people to rate how much they agree with statements like “I know that with effort I can improve my skills and knowledge” and “I see learning as my goal.”
These statements assess various aspects of a growth mindset, from belief in the power of effort to openness to challenges and commitment to learning. Beyond its practical applications, the scale showed stronger connections to other important psychological factors like passion and grit compared to previous measurement tools.
8 Statements To Test Growth Mindset
Rate yourself on a scale from 1 (“not like me at all”) to 5 (“very much like me”) for each statement.
- I know that with effort I can improve my skills and knowledge.
- I can influence and change my development in general.
- I can change my skills and knowledge through practice.
- I like to take challenges and try new things.
- I see learning as my goal.
- Effort makes me stronger.
- I want to spend more time and work more on an area/theme/skill to develop my skills and knowledge.
- I have faith in my own skills and my possibilities.
One of the study’s most intriguing findings was a significant gender difference in scores – men averaged notably higher (4.36 out of 5) compared to women (4.27 out of 5). The researchers suggest this gender gap might be related to previous findings showing men tend to score higher on measures of “passion for achievement,” possibly connected to differences in brain chemistry.
The development of this new scale comes at a particularly relevant time, as understanding and measuring growth mindset becomes increasingly important across various sectors of society. Sigmundsson argues that a growth mindset should be emphasized within families, sports, schools, and workplaces, with particular attention paid to helping students experience mastery through appropriately challenging tasks.
“An individual’s belief in growth is important. Individuals can change and increase their development through training. People with growth mindsets see challenges as opportunities for learning,” says Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson, from the Department of Psychology at NTNU, in a media release.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers used a digital questionnaire tool called nettskjema.no to collect responses from 723 Norwegian participants. Each person rated their agreement with eight statements about growth mindset on a 5-point scale. For comparison, participants also completed three other established questionnaires: the Theories of Intelligence Scale, the Passion Scale, and the Grit-S Scale. This comprehensive approach allowed researchers to validate their new scale against existing measures while keeping all responses anonymous.
Key Results
The study demonstrated several key findings. The scale proved reliable across all age groups, with good internal consistency among its questions. The gender difference was statistically significant, with men scoring higher overall. Interestingly, age had no significant relationship with growth mindset scores. The new scale showed relatively weak correlation with the traditional Theories of Intelligence Scale (0.17), but stronger correlations with measures of passion (0.501) and grit (0.164), suggesting it captures different aspects of growth mindset than previous tools.
Study Limitations
The researchers acknowledged several limitations. The sample had more women (425) than men (298), potentially affecting the gender-based findings. They recommend future studies include more representative samples across age groups to better understand how growth mindset develops throughout life. Additionally, the scale should be tested in different cultural contexts to ensure its universal applicability.
Discussion & Takeaways
The research team’s conclusions suggest their new scale could be more effective than existing tools for understanding how growth mindset relates to achievement and motivation. The strong connections to passion and grit indicate it might be particularly valuable for predicting success in various domains. The gender difference in scores raises interesting questions about how gender influences self-perception and motivation, though more research would be needed to fully understand these differences.
Funding & Disclosures
The study followed ethical guidelines established by the National Committee for Research Ethics in Social Sciences and the Humanities (NESH) and the Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Sikt). The research appears to have been conducted as part of the authors’ academic work at NTNU, with no external funding sources mentioned in the paper.
