Growth-mindset intervention gains varied by school context, being greatest where peer norms favored seeking challenge and in lower-achieving schools¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In a nationally representative sample of low-achieving high school students, growth-mindset intervention gains were greatest in schools where peer norms were to seek out challenge and in lower-achieving schools. → Linnenbrink-Garcia 2026

Evidence¶

Linnenbrink-Garcia 2026¶

Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., Wigfield, A., Cabrera, L., Mouzaoir, S., McKinney, D., Liu, P. P., Marchand, G., Schmidt, J. A., Harris, C. J., & Guthrie, J. (2026). The Case for Multifaceted, Integrative Motivation Interventions Embedded in Classrooms. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10177-w

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

The review reports, citing Yeager et al. (2019), that mindset intervention "gains were greatest in schools where peer norms were to seek out challenge as well as in lower-achieving schools"; no effect sizes are printed in this article's account.

"Yeager et al. ( 2019) conducted a growth-mindset intervention in a nationally representative sample of low-achieving high school students and found that the gains were greatest in schools where peer norms were to seek out challenge as well as in lower-achieving schools."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were larger in schools whose peer norms supported challenge-seeking — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were smaller in higher-achieving schools (moderation by school achievement level) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Cross-school variability in the GPA treatment effect was significant while variability in the mindset treatment effect was not — related
• Brief online growth-mindset interventions produce modest academic gains concentrated among students at risk of underperformance — related
• 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