Growth mindset
Believing ability can be developed through effort, not fixed at birth.
What it means
A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and abilities are malleable and can be developed through effort, effective strategies, learning, and help from others, in contrast to a 'fixed' mindset that treats them as innate and unchangeable. Dweck's framework holds that this belief shapes how people interpret difficulty and failure: those with a growth mindset are more likely to treat setbacks as information and to persist, adopt mastery goals, and embrace challenge, whereas a fixed mindset frames struggle as evidence of inadequacy to be avoided. The proposed mechanism runs through these motivational and attributional responses to obstacles rather than through ability directly. The construct is genuinely debated: large-scale studies and meta-analyses find that average effects of mindset on achievement are modest and highly context-dependent, that some classic effects have not replicated cleanly, and that brief 'mindset interventions' help most for specific subgroups (such as lower-achieving or disadvantaged students) under supportive conditions. It matters because mindset has been hugely influential in education and management, and the nuanced evidence cautions against treating it as a panacea while still valuing the underlying message that ability can grow.
Examples
A student who treats a poor exam grade as feedback for adjusting how they study, rather than as a final verdict on their intelligence.
A manager who says 'you haven't cracked this yet' rather than 'sales isn't your strength' frames a poor quarter as a strategy problem, so the rep keeps trying new approaches.
Learning guitar, an adult who expects to sound bad for months practises through the awkward stage; one who believes people are simply born musical quits at the first sore fingers.
First described in Carol Dweck (2006).