The meta-analytic correlation between growth mind-set and academic achievement is weak (r = .10)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr3·q3·i1small
Currency · newest study 2018 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i1 Across 273 effect sizes and 365,915 students, the average correlation between growth mind-set and academic achievement is r = .10, a weak association. → Victoria F. Sisk 2018
Evidence¶
Victoria F. Sisk 2018¶
Victoria F. Sisk, Alexander P. Burgoyne, Jingze Sun, Jennifer L. Butler, and Brooke N. Macnamara. (2018). To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617739704
q3 · i1 · quant-synthesis · r3
Random-effects meta-analysis of 273 effect sizes from 162 independent samples (N = 365,915) found the average correlation between growth mind-set and achievement was "r = .10, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [.08, .13], p < .001". Assuming mind-set measure reliability of .80, the estimate was r = .12.
"The meta-analytic average correlation (i.e., the average of various population effects) between growth mind-set and academic achievement is r = .10, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [.08, .13], p < .001."
Studies bearing on this claim¶
Do learners who hold more of a growth mindset achieve more, and for whom is the link stronger or weaker? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 14 narrower claims that bear on it: 9 distinct studies (4 associational, 3 review, 1 quant-synthesis, 1 theoretical), q2–q3, 1 of 9 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Motivation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Mindset — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
Related Claims¶
- Growth-mindset interventions have weak average effects on achievement, including a negligible GPA gain (d = 0.11) for lower-achieving US ninth-graders in one preregistered national trial — related
- Effect sizes linking growth mind-set to achievement are highly heterogeneous and often nonsignificant — related
- Developmental stage moderates the mind-set–achievement correlation, which is nonsignificant for adults — related
- Academic risk status does not significantly moderate the mind-set–achievement correlation — related
- Mind-set interventions show weak overall effects on achievement, with some support that low-SES or academically at-risk students might benefit — related
- Socioeconomic status does not significantly moderate the mind-set–achievement correlation — related
- Type of achievement measure moderates the correlation only when laboratory measures are excluded; course-exam correlation drops to r = .04 — related
- Math mindsets and academic grit correlate substantially with primary math achievement — reports the opposite
- Fixed mindset correlates negatively with GPA among U.S. 9th-grade students (average r = −.22) in a nationally representative sample — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- Achievement goals show small consistent correlations with academic achievement, positive for approach goals and negative for avoidance goals — related
- Academic behaviors have the most immediate effect on course grades; directly targeting grit is not an evidenced lever — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
- Academic grit has a significant positive effect on primary students' math achievement — related
- Fixed math mindset negatively predicts primary math achievement while growth math mindset shows no direct effect — related
- No correlation between an intervention's attitude effect and its achievement effect across studies — related
- Teachers' growth mindset shows a small positive overall association with combined teacher, instructional, and student outcomes (r = .111) — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
growth-mindset-achievement-correlation-weak |
title |
The meta-analytic correlation between growth mind-set and academic achievement is weak (r = .10) |
description |
The meta-analytic correlation between growth mind-set and academic achievement is weak (r = .10) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2018 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-13 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — victoria-f-sisk-2018 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.