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¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2–r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-27 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Students holding a growth mindset outperformed fixed-mindset students across all subjects, but test performance rose with SES irrespective of mindset. → Madia 2025 q3 i? Growth mindset appears less beneficial for learning at low levels of SES, contrary to much of the previous literature. → 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

Linear regression of PISA 2022 math scores on growth mindset across SES deciles, controlling for gender, migration status, and country (Fig. 1, Panel b), averaged across the 73 countries.

"The results indicated that students who held a growth mindset demonstrated superior performance across all subjects compared to those with a fixed mindset. However, it is noteworthy that as SES levels increased, we consistently observed higher levels of test performance, irrespective of mindset."

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 · r2

Authors' interpretation of the same regression results, noting the pattern runs counter to prior claims that mindset is especially beneficial for disadvantaged students.

"It also appears that growth mindset is less beneficial for learning at low levels of SES, contrary to much of the previous literature5."

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¶

• Growth mindset mediates only a small share (about 2.9–3.2%) of the effect of SES on academic achievement across 73 countries — related
• Children from low-SES backgrounds hold more negative academic self-views, which partially mediate the SES-achievement association across 70 countries — related
• Growth mindsets associate with higher US mathematics scores but slightly lower Chinese mathematics scores (country × mindset interaction) — related
• Students' individual growth mindset is positively associated with their odds of being academically resilient in PISA 2018 data across 79 countries — related
• Students with stronger growth mindsets show better overall academic performance at university — related
• Growth mindset is positively associated with PISA reading, science and math performance overall (Model B standardized βs .21, .20, .16) — a broader claim this one bears on
• 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) — 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