From Growth Mindset to Grit in Chinese Schools: The Mediating Roles of Learning Motivations

Abstract

Growth mindset and grit have attracted much attention in educational research recently. Yet the underlying mechanisms that relate these variables to each other as well as to other variables remain largely unclear. This study investigates the relationships among growth mindset, learning motivations, and grit. We recruited a total of 1,842 students (884 males and 958 females) from third to ninth grade in a Chinese city. Results from the structural equation model analyzing the students’ responses showed that learning motivations partially mediate the relationship between growth mindset and grit. Specifically, intrinsic motivation and identified regulation of extrinsic motivation are positively associated with growth mindset and grit, while external regulation of extrinsic motivation is negatively associated with them. Additionally, introjected regulation of extrinsic motivation is uncorrelated with these two variables. This study furthers the understanding of the underlying mechanisms through which growth mindset and grit positively impact education.

Cyberbullying Victimization and Adolescent Depression: The Mediating Role of Psychological Security and the Moderating Role of Growth Mindset

“…Participants were asked to respond on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). This inventory has been used among Chinese adolescents and has good reliability and validity [36]. In this study, a confirmatory factor analysis revealed an acceptable fit: χ 2 /df = 4.55, RMSEA = 0.07, AGFI = 0.92, GFI = 0.93, IFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.93; Cronbach's alpha for the subscale in the current study was 0.81.…”

“…Individuals with positive traits (e.g., growth mindset) may be more adaptive when facing negative experiences. A possible explanation for this is that growth mindset is an important positive personal trait, which refers to the belief or notion that personal attributes (e.g., personality, strength, and skill) are improvable rather than immutable [33,36]. As a basic point of view for understanding and interpreting our attributes' behaviors [32], mindsets usually determine individual responses to setbacks and adversities to some extent.…”

“…For individuals with high growth mindset, they believe that their abilities and other attributes can be improved through their own efforts, so when facing negative experiences, they not only demonstrate more resilience and grit, but also show a positive attitude and response. For example, they might seek the necessary social support or take direct action to deal with their problems [36,38], which could help them to effectively cope with negative events and experiences like being bullied online. Additionally, a growth mindset also affects one's attributions to negative events.…”

“…Mindset (beliefs about the malleability of personality attributes) is one of the key factors determining individual responses to challenges, stress, and adversity [32], and it is one focus of the current research in related fields. In particular, growth mindset, as a specific form of mindset, refers to the belief that personal attributes (e.g., personality, strength, and skill) are changeable rather than immutable [33]; and it has been found to be a positive predictor for various aspects of individual adaptation and well-being [34][35][36]. At the same time, growth mindset enables individuals to adopt adaptive strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, to cope with negative situations and environments; therefore, individuals with growth mindset tend to be more adaptive when facing negative experiences [33,37].…”

Technology-Enhanced Learning for the Development of Learning Motivation

“…Although Self-Determination Theory implies intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, there were researchers who did not mention Ryan and Deci's theory, which is why intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is separate. The next most often used theory was Flow Theory by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Ebrahimzadeh & Alavi, 2016;Zhao et al, 2018;Chang et al, 2018;etc.). Other motivation theories detected in the articles were the four step model for promoting motivation in learning process: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (ARCS) Model of motivational design by John Keller (Lin et al, 2018;Schumacher & Ifenthaler, 2018;Setiani et al, 2019;Zhang, 2017;etc.…”