Students with stronger growth mindsets earn higher grades than fixed-mindset students in early university terms, but the gap narrows and is statistically indistinguishable from Term 7 (observational)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-26 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Mindset interacted with the quadratic term effect such that growth-mindset students outperformed fixed-mindset students in earlier terms, with the difference shrinking over later terms. → Melody M. Chao 2025 q3 i? Growth and fixed mindset performance became statistically indistinguishable from Term 7 onward. → Melody M. Chao 2025 (2)

Evidence¶

Melody M. Chao 2025¶

Melody M. Chao, Allen H. Huang, Anirban Mukhopadhyay & Janghoon Shon. (2025). Divergent effects of mindsets on performance trajectories. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00355-w

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Term-level longitudinal regressions on students' self-reported mindsets (6,918 student-terms; observational, so the association cannot show that mindset causes the difference) found a significant Mindset × Term Squared interaction (B = −0.003, SE = 0.001, p = 0.029), with "greater" concavity for stronger growth mindsets. Figure 1 plots the predicted divergent-then-converging trajectories.

"Assuming the same starting point, this suggests that students with growth mindsets outperform those with fixed mindsets in earlier terms, but the difference decreases over time in the later terms."

Melody M. Chao 2025 (2)¶

Melody M. Chao, Allen H. Huang, Anirban Mukhopadhyay & Janghoon Shon. (2025). Divergent effects of mindsets on performance trajectories. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00355-w

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Follow-up comparisons of the estimated trajectories in Fig. 1 showed the growth-fixed gap emerging in Term 2, peaking around Term 4, and converging by Term 7; differences were "statistically indistinguishable" at the end of the program.

"The difference became statistically significant from Term 3, was greatest in Term 4, and became weaker from Terms 5 and 6. Eventually, the performance of those with growth and fixed mindsets became statistically indistinguishable from Term 7"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Mindset — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Motivation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Students with stronger growth mindsets show better overall academic performance at university — related
• The mindset-performance relationship is U-shaped and non-monotonic: the strongest growth- and strongest fixed-mindset students outperform those with moderate or slightly fixed mindsets — related
• Common and exceptional problems elicit distinct speed-accuracy profiles: curvilinear for common problems versus linear for exceptional problems, converging in older and higher-achieving students — related
• Direct instruction's advantages do not persist over the longer term — a broader claim this one bears on
• Growth mindsets associate with higher US mathematics scores but slightly lower Chinese mathematics scores (country × mindset interaction) — related
• Growth mindset is associated with better PISA performance across SES levels, but appears less beneficial at low SES and advantaged students still achieve better outcomes — related