The growth mindset intervention reduced fixed-mindset beliefs among lower-achieving adolescents, with no significant variation in this effect detected across schools¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r3 · q4 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2019 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i1 Relative to control, the intervention reduced the prevalence of fixed mindset self-reports among lower-achieving adolescents, standardized effect size 0.33. → Yeager 2019

Evidence¶

Yeager 2019¶

Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Tipton, E., Schneider, B., Hulleman, C. S., Hinojosa, C. P., Paunesku, D., Romero, C., Flint, K., Roberts, A., Trott, J., Iachan, R., Buontempo, J., Yang, S. M., Carvalho, C. M., Hahn, P. R., Gopalan, M., Mhatre, P., Ferguson, R., Duckworth, A. L. & Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature 573. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y

q4 · i1 · causal · r3

Self-reported fixed mindset measured at the end of the second session in the national randomized experiment. The intervention "reduced the prevalence of fixed mindset beliefs relative to the control condition" (standardized mean difference effect size of 0.33, n = 5,650, k = 65).

"the growth mindset intervention reduced the prevalence of fixed mindset beliefs relative to the control condition, reported at the end of the second treatment session, unstandardized B = −0.38 (95% confidence interval = −0.31, −0.46), standard error of the regression coefficient (s.e.) = 0.04, n = 5,650 students, k = 65 schools, t = −10.14, P < 0.001, standardized mean difference effect size of 0.33"

Studies bearing on this claim¶

Can a brief intervention, a programme or a teacher change a learner's mindset? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 3 narrower claims that bear on it: 4 distinct studies (2 causal, 1 review, 1 associational), q2–q4, 1 of 4 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 — outcome: instruction changes it
• Mindset — outcome: instruction changes it

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 — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it¶

• A growth-mindset-of-personality workshop reduced retaliatory aggression and increased prosocial behavior among urban high school students — related
• GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were larger in schools whose peer norms supported challenge-seeking — related
• A short online growth mindset intervention improved ninth-grade core-course GPAs among lower-achieving students in a nationally representative US sample — related
• Evidence of changes in growth mindset or math confidence after the summer programs was minimal — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• A short growth mindset intervention raised growth mindset belief but produced no significant difference from control in recall performance, interest, enjoyment or perceived difficulty and effort, for either knowledge type — related
• The growth mindset intervention successfully fostered mindset beliefs but this did not transfer to learning outcomes — related
• When delivered by master's students, the intervention additionally improved growth mindsets and standardized math achievement — related