Growth mindset mediates only a small share (about 2.9–3.2%) of the effect of SES on academic achievement across 73 countries¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? SES-driven differences in growth mindset explain only 2.9% of the total SES achievement gap in math (PIE = -0.017, p < 0.01). → Madia 2025 q3 i? The pure indirect effect accounts for about 3.2% of the total SES effect in science and in reading. → 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

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Four-way decomposition analysis of PISA 2022 data from 73 countries (503,656 observations in math), controlling for gender, migration status, and country fixed effects. The pure indirect effect through growth mindset was -0.017, with "Prop. PIE = 0.029" of the total SES effect.

"we find a significant but small effect of -0.017 (p < 0.01). This means that SES-driven differences in mindset explain only 2.9% of the total achievement gap (Prop. PIE = 0.029)"

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

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Cross-subject comparison from the same decomposition analysis, reported in the Results section: mediation proportions were similar across the three PISA domains, with confidence intervals as printed.

"the pure indirect effect (PIE) accounts for ~2.9% (CI 95%: 2.7, 3.0) of the total effect in mathematics, 3.2% (CI 95%: 3.1%, 3.4%) in science, and 3.2% (CI at 95%: 3.0%, 3.4%) in reading"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The proportion of the SES effect mediated by growth mindset varies across countries, reaching at most 0.11 in a few countries while most fall between 0 and 0.08 — related
• The direct effect of SES on achievement dominates: the controlled direct effect accounts for about 98% of the total SES effect in math — related
• The mediated interaction between SES and growth mindset is small but positive (about 0.006), indicating only minimal moderation of the SES effect — related
• Children from low-SES backgrounds hold more negative academic self-views, which partially mediate the SES-achievement association across 70 countries — 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
• Students' individual growth mindset is positively associated with their odds of being academically resilient in PISA 2018 data across 79 countries — related