Prior meta-analyses report mixed effects of growth mindset interventions on achievement, with estimates ranging from a non-significant d = 0.05 to d = 0.14¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Burnette et al.'s meta-analysis of 53 samples found a small positive effect (d = 0.14) with 95% prediction intervals from d = -0.08 to d = 0.35. → Madia 2025 q2 i? Macnamara and Burgoyne's meta-analysis of 79 samples found d = 0.05 that did not reach statistical significance after correcting for publication bias. → Madia 2025 (2)

Evidence¶

Madia 2025¶

Madia, J. E., Gruijters, R. J., Raabe, I. J. & Hübner, N. (2025). Growth mindset and socioeconomic inequality in academic achievement across seventy-three PISA countries. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00365-8

q2 · i? · associational · r3

The article reports, citing Burnette et al., that this meta-analysis found a small positive effect with prediction intervals ranging from d = -0.08 to d = 0.35 and larger effects for at-risk students.

"Burnette et al.4 examined 53 distinct samples and interventions. Based on this data, the authors found growthmindset interventions to positively affect academic achievement (d = 0.14, Cohen 1988)."

Madia 2025 (2)¶

Madia, J. E., Gruijters, R. J., Raabe, I. J. & Hübner, N. (2025). Growth mindset and socioeconomic inequality in academic achievement across seventy-three PISA countries. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00365-8

q2 · i? · associational · r3

The article reports, citing Macnamara and Burgoyne, that this meta-analysis of 79 samples considering best practices found no significant effect after publication-bias correction and no meaningful moderators.

"Overall, Macnamara and Burgoyne13 found a small average effect of growth mindset interventions on student achievement ofd = 0.05 that did not reach statistical significance after correcting for publication bias."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• GMT as a standalone intervention shows small average effects that approach zero when publication bias is controlled, per the review's account of Macnamara and Burgoyne's meta-analysis — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• 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
• Yeager et al. (2016) and Fink et al. (2018) found indeterminate effects on enrollment, credit completion, and chemistry final exam scores — related
• Mindset interventions have only a weak effect on later academic achievement — related
• Prior evidence on PowerPoint's effect on cognitive learning is equivocal, with a non-significant pooled effect — related
• Mean effect sizes across the 13 reviewed meta-analyses ranged from -.11 to .57 — related