Purpose With a growth mindset, individuals focus on the process of growth, actively seek challenges, recognise and accept failures, and apply more effort and monitor themselves to overcome difficulties. Doing so translates into excellent academic performance. However, it has not yet been fully clarified how growth mindset affects academic delay of gratification (ADG) and the mechanisms underlying their interactions. In this study, grit and academic self-efficacy were tested as mediating mechanisms between growth mindset and the ADG using a serial mediation effect model based on self-determination theory (SDT). Methods A cross-sectional design was conducted with 759 Chinese junior high school students using the following tools: Growth Mindset Scale, Short Grit Scale, Academic Self-efficacy Scale, and Academic Delay of Gratification Scale. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results The results showed that: (1) by gender and grade control, growth mindset indicated a positive significance in the prediction of ADG; (2) grit and academic self-efficacy played a mediating role in the influence of a growth mindset on the ADG. Grit and academic self-efficacy also have a serial mediation effect between growth mindset and ADG. Conclusion The results showed that a growth mindset does not only directly affect the ADG but also indirectly affects it through grit and academic self-efficacy. Based on SDT, this study further revealed the potential mechanism of a growth mindset affecting the ADG. Furthermore, it provides practical guidance for the cultivation of ADG for junior high school students.

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