Last week we discussed the two different mindsets (fixed and growth) and how having either one affects your learning and achieving your goals. This week we will discuss how the different mindsets will affect when coping with setbacks and your confidence for challenging activities.
Mindsets and Coping with Setbacks
It will come as no surprise that the mindsets lead to different ways of coping with difficulty. Because in the fixed mindset, setbacks are seen as indicating a lack of ability, this mindset often leaves people few good ways of reacting to setbacks. In one study (Blackwell, et al, 2005), we found that those with a fixed mindset were more likely to say that if they did poorly on a test— even if it were in a new course and one they liked a lot—they would study less in the future and would seriously consider cheating. This is how people cope when they think setbacks mean they lack permanent ability. In contrast, those students with a growth mindset said they would study more or study differently. They planned to take charge of the situation and work to overcome the setback.
When the going gets rough, people in the growth framework not only take charge of improving their skills, they take charge of their motivation as well (Grant, 2004). Despite setbacks—or even because of them—they find ways to keep themselves committed and interested. Instead, students with a fixed framework lose interest as they lose confidence. As the difficulty mounts, their commitment and enjoyment go down. Since all important endeavors involve setbacks sooner or later (more likely, sooner and later), it is a serious liability to lose interest and enjoyment just when you need greater effort.
Putting it all together, this means that a fixed mindset leads people to value looking good over learning, to disdain and to fear effort, and to abandon effective strategies just when they need them most. A growth mindset, on the other hand, leads people to seek challenges and learning, to value effort, and to persist effectively in the face of obstacles.
Billy Beane, over time, actually came to recognize that these growth-mindset ingredients– the ability to see setbacks as a natural part of learning, the ability to improve through effort, and the ability to sustain enjoyment and commitment– were keys to success in the sports world (Lewis, 2003). With this knowledge, as general manager of the Oakland Athletics, he led his team to several seasons of almost record-breaking wins on nearly the lowest budget in baseball.
Naturals Revisited
But aren’t they’re people who are true naturals? Michael Jordan? Babe Ruth? Wasn’t Babe Ruth this out-of-shape guy who dragged his paunch to the plate and belted out his home runs? An examination of almost any of the greats will reveal people who practiced like fiends and honed their skills over many years. The story of Babe Ruth’s development as a home-run king is interesting (Creamer, 1974/1983). Ty Cobb argued that it was Ruth’s career as a pitcher that helped him become a great hitter. No one expected a pitcher to hit well, so Ruth could experiment with his big swing, seeing what worked and what didn’t. When it didn’t work, nobody cared. After all, he was the pitcher. Over time, he learned more and more about how to control his swing, so that when he became an outfielder, he was ready to hit.
Take any “natural” you can name—Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mia Hamm, Muhammad Ali—and if you just look more closely, you can see the discipline, perseverance, and commitment that went into their success. Sure, they had talent, but they also had the right mindset.
Mindsets and Confidence
Isn’t motivation just a matter of confidence? To some extent, yes, but one of the most fascinating findings in research is the fact that within the growth framework, with its focus on growth, it is far easier to sustain your confidence (see Blackwell, et al, 2005). In the fixed framework, with its focus on proving your ability, a poor performance casts doubt on your deep-seated ability and can undermine your confidence. Someone else’s good performance can undermine your confidence (“Maybe they have more talent than I do.”) (Butler, 2000). Even needing effort and practice can undermine your confidence–so it’s a constant battle to stay confident in the face of inevitable challenge.
However, in the growth framework, making mistakes or even having clear deficits doesn’t mean you aren’t or won’t be good at something. It’s simply an occasion for learning. Moreover, you don’t need a wagon-load of confidence to embark on learning. You just need to believe in improvement over time.
Athletes can have a confidence problem. Coaches tell you to believe in yourself 100%–never to doubt yourself—but it can be difficult. Any time he or she posts a disappointing time, commits a turnover, or strikes out they can fall into self-doubt. However, thinking of things in a growth framework—where setbacks are just information about what they need to do in the future—can allow them to keep things in perspective and maintain confidence in those very same situations. The setbacks simply meant: Get back to work.
The Idea of Potential
Many of the scouts in the sports world scouted for naturals, for people who looked like superstars, that is, were shaped like superstars and moved like superstars (Lewis, 2003). If they didn’t look the part, they weren’t recruited. Yet Ben Hogan, one of the greatest golfers of all time did not have the grace of a natural golfer. Muhammad Ali actually did not have the build of the natural boxer. He did not have a champion’s fists, reach, chest expansion, and heft. People gave him no chance against Sonny Liston, who seemed to have it all (Dennis & Atyeo, 2003). Muggsy Bogues at 5’3” or the little quarterback Doug Flutie—anyone could look at them and tell you they were not naturals and people doubted they had the potential to make it.
Within a fixed mindset, potential is easy to judge. You just look at the person’s gifts right now and project them into the future. Talented now equals talented in the future. Not talented now equals not talented in the future. Boy, that was easy!
Yet within a growth framework, potential is hard to judge. Sure “natural talent” buys you a lot, and if you’re accomplished now, you’ve got a leg up on others. But after that you cannot know where someone might end up with years of passion, discipline, and commitment—and good instruction.
This provides exciting support for the view that passion and excellence in sport are guided by people’s mindsets about their sports abilities.
Where Do Mindsets Come From?
Many times mindsets are fostered by the kind of feedback students get from the people who evaluate them: their parents, their teachers, and presumably their coaches. Specifically, the mindsets are fostered by a focus on the person (e.g.,talent or ability) as opposed to a focus on the process (e.g., effort, learning) (Dweck & Lennon, 2001; Kamins & Dweck, 1999;).
First, we have found that when adults evaluate students on their abilites—even if the evaluation is positive–it puts students into a fixed mindset (Kamins & Dweck, 1999; Mueller & Dweck, 1998). For example, in one set of studies (Mueller & Dweck, 1998), students were given some problems to solve from a nonverbal IQ test and then, in one condition, lauded their performance and praised them for their intelligence. These students
now favored a fixed mindset of intelligence (compared to a group that was praised for their effort)
when asked about the task they would like to work on next, rejected an opportunity to learn in favor of a chance to look smart again
lost interest and performed poorly after the tasks became harder
However, students who were praised for the process they engaged in—in this case, their effort:
now expressed a more growth mindset of intelligence
overwhelmingly went for the task that would give them a chance to learn
maintained their interest and their performance even after the task became harder
It would be fascinating to look at this with coaches too. The illustrious John Wooden, who coached the UCLA basketball team to 10 NCAA championships, constantly focused on his players’ learning and improvement (Wooden, 1972, 1997). Although he recognized that some players had more talent than others, he was committed to developing each player’s ability to the fullest. By focusing on process and learning, Wooden seemed to inspire his players with a belief in their own development—a belief that paid good dividends.
In part 3 we will talk about if mindsets can be changed… guess what??..... they can!!!