Self-theories by Carol S. Dweck
Written on April 28, 2007
Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development (Essays in Social Psychology)
Dweck contrasts two different theories of intelligence – an entity theory versus an incremental theory, showing that the entity theory leads to maladaptive responses. The entity theory involves the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait, leading to avoidance of challenge and effort, a decrease in ability to handle setbacks. The incremental theory views intelligence as something that can be increased, and this orients students more toward learning and challenge.
I’m sure I grew up with an entity theory of intelligence; intelligence seemed to be equated with less effort, plus social alienation.
Dweck’s more recent book is Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Guy Kawasaki’s blog post includes a link to a video interview and a nice diagram of the fixed versus incremental/growth mindsets.
See also – IT Conversations interview
Filed in: cognitive science,self.
I believe Dweck stresses that a person’s response to a challenge/obstacle is mediated by his or her goal orientation (mastery v. performance). In other words, one’s beliefs about the nature of intelligence alone don’t predict a maladaptive response.
Dweck’s work should be required reading for all parents!
Hmm – as I remember it, the theory of intelligence influenced one’s goal orientation, so someone with an entity theory of intelligence would tend to be concerned about performance rather than mastery. A poor performance reflects negatively on one’s intelligence, when it’s regarded as fixed. & “individuals with a “growth” theory are more likely to continue despite setbacks and attempt to develop their skill sets even when met with initial failure.” (quote from the Wikipedia article on Dweck).
[…] San Francisco Chronicle article on “Cultivating happiness” (12/28/07) discusses this new book: The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky. The article also mentions the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and the “Half Full” project on “The Science of Raising Happy Kids,” as well as the work of Carol Dweck, which was discussed here in an earlier blog post. […]
I tried to access the online mindset test on Dr. Dweck’s sight but there was nothing there. Any idea where I can access the test? I’d love to use it with my students.
[…] He exemplifies the incremental approach to intelligence described by Carol Dweck in Mindset and other books. (Dweck is discussed in Chapter 3 of this […]
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