Effort Is What Makes You Smart Or Talented!
Yesterday I started this weeks series letting you know about a groundbreaking publication that identified and distinguished the difference between a 'fixed' mindset and a 'growth' mindset.
Today I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into the theory and how it came about.
You might think that this is going to be boring,
but really,
it's truly fascinating!
Bear with me!
In 2006 Carol Dweck, Psychologist, published her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
Before publication Dweck carried out research with hundreds of students, mostly adolescents.
One of her biggest findings was that
students with a fixed mindset actively avoided opportunities for learning if it meant not failing!
So, how was this identified?
Students were asked to completed a challenging IQ test. When they were told the result they were told one of two things. Either
This is your score. That's a really good score, you must be smart at this.
Or
This is your score. That's a really good score, you must have worked really hard.
The first statement is an 'ability' praise, and pushes the mindset into the fixed mindset.
the second, an 'effort' praise, pushes into the growth mindset.
So how did this affect the students?
All the students were then offered a new challenging task to complete.
The ones who had been given the 'ability' praise (pushed into the fixed mindset) declined the new task and the opportunity for learning,
whereas 90% of the other students (pushed into the growth mindset) jumped at the chance to learn something new.
Further tests identified that:
The 'ability' praised students thought that failure of a task meant that they weren't as smart as they thought they were,
Students with a fixed mindset chose easier tasks rather than challenging tasks to ensure success and hide any inabilities or potential failures.
When the 'ability' praised students were asked to write about their experience, they lied about their results.
People with a fixed mindset only listen to feedback that affirms their ability, and don't listen to feedback that could help them learn and develop. They even switched off to the correct answer to a question they had answered incorrectly.
For the 'effort' praised students failure was just an indication that they needed to put in more effort, and their was nothing shameful about it at all.
Students with a growth mindset sought out opportunities for learning.
People with a growth mindset listen attentively to any information that they can use to learn and develop.
Dweck says
“When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world. In one world, effort is a bad thing. It, like failure, means you’re not smart or talented. If you were, you wouldn’t need effort. In the other world, effort is what makes you smart or talented.”
With a growth mindset
“Not only are people with this mindset not discouraged by failure, but they don’t actually see themselves as failing in those situations–they see themselves as learning.”
I find this while theory fascinating; I hope you do too....
Tomorrow we'll start exploring how you can start developing a growth mindset.