Fixed is not the opposite of growth: Item keying matters for measuring mindsets

IF 3.2 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL Social Psychology of Education Pub Date : 2023-12-19 DOI:10.1007/s11218-023-09866-z

{"title":"Fixed is not the opposite of growth: Item keying matters for measuring mindsets","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s11218-023-09866-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Research on growth mindset, the belief that one’s cognitive abilities are malleable and can be developed through dedication and practice, has received considerable media attention and influenced educational policy and practice. However, mindset theory and measurement have also drawn criticism. In the present paper, we add a cautionary note pertaining to the conceptualization and measurement of growth mindset. Through a critical reanalysis of a large-scale representative study of adolescents from the US (<em>N</em> = 15,362), we show that a growth (i.e., forward-keyed) and a fixed (i.e., reverse keyed) mindset item from a widely used scale are only moderately correlated (<em>r</em> = −.31). Further, we demonstrate that the two items are very differently related with a range of educationally relevant criteria such as learning engagement and self-efficacy, and sociodemographic characteristics such as sex. This leads us to conclude that the growth and fixed mindset items are not mutually interchangeable (apart from keying) indicators of a unidimensional construct that has fixed and growth mindset at its opposing poles. Which items researchers choose to measure mindset (fixed, growth, or a blend thereof) may therefore have a significant impact on the findings they obtain. Our insights highlight the need for greater attention to the conceptual foundations and measurement of mindset in future studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51467,"journal":{"name":"Social Psychology of Education","volume":"305 4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Psychology of Education","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-023-09866-z","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Research on growth mindset, the belief that one’s cognitive abilities are malleable and can be developed through dedication and practice, has received considerable media attention and influenced educational policy and practice. However, mindset theory and measurement have also drawn criticism. In the present paper, we add a cautionary note pertaining to the conceptualization and measurement of growth mindset. Through a critical reanalysis of a large-scale representative study of adolescents from the US (N = 15,362), we show that a growth (i.e., forward-keyed) and a fixed (i.e., reverse keyed) mindset item from a widely used scale are only moderately correlated (r = −.31). Further, we demonstrate that the two items are very differently related with a range of educationally relevant criteria such as learning engagement and self-efficacy, and sociodemographic characteristics such as sex. This leads us to conclude that the growth and fixed mindset items are not mutually interchangeable (apart from keying) indicators of a unidimensional construct that has fixed and growth mindset at its opposing poles. Which items researchers choose to measure mindset (fixed, growth, or a blend thereof) may therefore have a significant impact on the findings they obtain. Our insights highlight the need for greater attention to the conceptual foundations and measurement of mindset in future studies.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

固定并不是成长的对立面：测量思维模式时的项目键入问题

摘要有关 "成长型思维模式 "的研究受到了媒体的广泛关注，并对教育政策和实践产生了影响。"成长型思维模式 "认为，一个人的认知能力是可塑的，可以通过努力和实践得到发展。然而，思维模式理论和测量方法也招致了批评。在本文中，我们对成长型思维模式的概念化和测量提出了警示。通过对一项针对美国青少年的大规模代表性研究（N = 15,362）进行批判性的重新分析，我们发现，在一个被广泛使用的量表中，一个成长型（即正向键控）和一个固定型（即反向键控）思维模式项目只有适度的相关性（r = -.31）。此外，我们还证明，这两个项目与一系列教育相关标准（如学习参与度和自我效能感）以及社会人口特征（如性别）之间的相关性非常不同。这使我们得出结论，成长型思维模式和固定型思维模式项目并不能相互替换（除了关键点），它们是一个单维结构的指标，固定型思维模式和成长型思维模式是其对立的两极。因此，研究人员选择哪种项目来测量思维方式（固定型、成长型或混合型）可能会对他们的研究结果产生重大影响。我们的见解突出表明，在未来的研究中需要更加关注思维模式的概念基础和测量方法。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

Social Psychology of Education PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL-

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

3.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The field of social psychology spans the boundary between the disciplines of psychology and sociology and has traditionally been associated with empirical research. Many studies of human behaviour in education are conducted by persons who identify with social psychology or whose work falls into the social psychological ambit. Several textbooks have been published and a variety of courses are being offered on the `social psychology of education'', but no journal has hitherto appeared to cover the field. Social Psychology of Education fills this gap, covering a wide variety of content concerns, theoretical interests and research methods, among which are: Content concerns: classroom instruction decision making in education educational innovation concerns for gender, race, ethnicity and social class knowledge creation, transmission and effects leadership in schools and school systems long-term effects of instructional processes micropolitics of schools student cultures and interactions teacher recruitment and careers teacher- student relations Theoretical interests: achievement motivation attitude theory attribution theory conflict management and the learning of pro-social behaviour cultural and social capital discourse analysis group dynamics role theory social exchange theory social transition social learning theory status attainment symbolic interaction the study of organisations Research methods: comparative research experiments formal observations historical studies literature reviews panel studies qualitative methods sample surveys For social psychologists with a special interest in educational matters, educational researchers with a social psychological approach.