Empowering Youth to Develop
Benefits of a Growth mind-set
“Some people are just jerks, and not much can be done to change them” If your answer is yes, here’s something you might consider: Research suggests that believing in the human capacity to change is linked to less depression, better health, and greater achievement.
Do you agree with this statement?
This is the “growth mind-set,” an idea pioneered by Stanford researcher Carol Dweck. It’s the opposite of a “fixed mind-set,” the idea that people are born either smart or not, kind or not, strong or not—and people just don’t change all that much. According to this research, growth mind-set,shows obstacles asconquerable. This perspective releases some of the pressure we might feel, and helps us to think more in terms of challenges than threats. We are the ones who stand the most to gain when we see possibilities in others. For example, one recent study found that teens who learned about the growth mindset in relation to bullying— hearing that bullies could change and no one was stuck as an aggressor or victim— were more resilient to social stress. As a result of the changed perspective, seven months later, they were even getting better grades.
Social benefits of a ‘growth mind-set’
A growing number of studies suggest that fostering a growth mind-set (also known as an “incremental theory of personality”) helps students to better navigate social challenges.
Improved peer relationships: A simple belief in the possibility of change may have a powerful effect on our thinking—potentially freeing us to actually see our way through anxiety and a sense of failure in the midst of peer conflict and peer exclusion.
Empathy: A growth mind-set can prompt us to put in the effort to empathize more—particularly when it’s challenging. If we are struggling to understand that so-called “jerk” in our lives, we might be able to say to ourselves, “This person may be having a rough time right now, but she may change her behaviour over time.”
Obstacles to growth
Consider the following cautions and clarifications from mind-set researcher Carol Dweck:
- You can’t have a growth mind-set all the time: It’s important to note that a growth mind-set isn’t a personal attribute or state of being, it’s a way of thinking or a coping strategy that we can apply in a given situation. It is not something you simply have or you don’t.
- We all experience fixed mind-sets, too: Everyone is a mix of both fixed and growth mind-sets, and no one person has a pure growth mind-set all the time. If we want to benefit from a growth mind-set, we need to understand how both a fixed and growth mind-set can play out in different situations. For example, a growth mind-set can come in handy in situations where we experience anxiety or a sense of failure.
A.G.Sonali Silva
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