Mindset

"Mindset" refers to the ability of the brain to form points of view in order to adopt behavior, formulate lifestyles, rethink priorities, make choices, and pursue goals. The concept of mindset can be applied to individuals or groups of people. Neuroscientific research has examined how a mindset develops, how a mindset becomes ingrained in a person (or community), and how it can be altered. A person’s mindset may undergo intense change during certain periods of life, especially during late adolescence and early adulthood, when opinions are formed about subjects as diverse as family, religion, the arts, politics, race, and gender. Neuroscience has begun to measure how the brain develops during adulthood and forms often radically different neural pathways. This ability to grow and to change is called neuroplasticity. By learning new skills, gaining new experiences, and developing abilities, people’s mindsets change, both for better and, in some cases, for worse.

Background

The term "mindset" was first used by education theorists in the 1920s who were interested in the impact of education, cultural environment, and heredity in shaping a person’s conception of the world. In turn, these early theorists began to measure how entire groups of people tended to accept the same conceptions, biases, and ideas to form a kind of collective mindset. Many of these theorists considered how collective mindset exerts power over a community. Research showed that the longer entrenched ideas maintained a hold over a group, the more that idea became dangerously obsolete.

Contemporary military theorists have applied the concept of mindset to define how a government might create popular support from individuals and policies in the time of war. The mindset of the American people, for instance, was gauged in the national response to the George W. Bush presidential administration’s claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction as justification for pursuing an invasion and occupation of that country. The administration faced the task of changing the mindset of those who found invasion and occupation an extreme reaction to the evidence presented. Although individuals and peoples have often undergone dramatic changes in mindset in reaction to events, this example was singularly rapid; usually such mindset evolution is gradual.

Overview

Psychologists have established a number of theories of oppositional mindsets. For example, social and developmental psychologist Carol Dweck has defined the terms "fixed mindset" and "growth mindset," which she places at opposite ends of a continuum. A fixed mindset supposes that basic abilities, intelligence, and talents are innate and static. Somebody with this mindset believes that whatever such traits they are born with are the ones they will always have, and that these traits cannot be developed or changed in any significant way, even given conventional pressures. A fixed mindset offers a stable central premise from which the individual operates or the collective determines its direction and vision. In contrast, somebody with a growth mindset believes that whatever abilities, intelligence, and talents they are born with can be developed and improved. This mindset thrives on challenge and sees events as a call for change, embracing change and seeking new directions. Dweck notes that these mindsets are particularly influential among students, and that changing a student's mindset from "fixed" to "growth" can noticeably improve that student's academic performance. However, in 2015 she also cautioned against "false growth mindset," in which educators claim to embrace a growth mindset but do not follow through in the classroom. It is better, Dweck argued, to "acknowledge that (1) we’re all a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, (2) we will probably always be, and (3) if we want to move closer to a growth mindset in our thoughts and practices, we need to stay in touch with our fixed-mindset thoughts and deeds."

Mindset can also impact professional growth and career success and the ability to sustain a family—all earmarks of traditional happiness. For both children and adults, believing that intelligence and abilities can be developed, rather than them being fixed traits, provides a healthier outlook. At the core of growth mindset is the embrace of new information, a hunger for education, and the exploration of new ideas and creativity. Failure for a person with a growth mindset is virtually impossible, as each failure is another occasion for learning.

Another pair of oppositional mindsets, defined initially by Stephen R. Covey in his 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, are "abundance mindset" (or "abundance mentality") and "scarcity mindset." Abundance mindset sees potential in sharing with others and rejects protective competition and egocentricity. Scarcity mindset, on the other hand, is based on destructive and unnecessary competition and the perception that if one person wins or is successful in a situation, that means that everyone else must lose. According to Covey, such mindsets cannot embrace the complications or complexities not represented in a zero-sum situation.

Like individuals and communities, businesses can have a mindset. Businesses can have a proactive mindset and seek new opportunities, visions, and avenues of research and development. But businesses can also have ingrained mindsets in which they cling to established successes and routines for production and decision making, preferring to protect traditions rather than risk exploring new directions. When this type of mindset is active, people or organizations seek out information that will protect the status quo, to the point of even denying data or evidence that suggest flaws in those processes.

In short, mindsets can help direct individuals, communities, and corporations provide a sense of identity and an integrity to their mission. However, held too long, mindsets can stifle development and can become, in turn, significant problems.

Bibliography

Brandstätter, Veronika, et al. "The Role of Deliberative versus Implemental Mindsets in Time Prediction and Task Accomplishment." Social Psychology, vol. 46, no. 2, 2015, pp. 104–15. Supplemental Index, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=102807720&site=eds-live. Accessed 1 June 2017.

Dweck, Carol S. "Carol Dweck Revisits the 'Growth Mindset.'" Education Week, 22 Sept. 2015, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset.html. Accessed 1 June 2017.

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Updated ed., Random House, 2016.

Dweck, Carol S. "Stanford University's Carol Dweck on the Growth Mindset and Education." Interview by James Morehead. OneDublin.org, WordPress.com, 19 June 2012, onedublin.org/2012/06/19/stanford-universitys-carol-dweck-on-the-growth-mindset-and-education/. Accessed 1 June 2017.

Maruyama, Magoroh, et al. "Mindscapes and Science Theories (and Comments and Reply)." Current Anthropology, vol. 21, no. 5, 1980, pp. 589–608.

Sweeney, John, and Elena Imaretska. The Innovative Mindset: 5 Behaviors for Accelerating Breakthroughs. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

Taylor, Shelley E., and Peter M. Gollwitzer. "Effects of Mindset on Positive Illusions." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 69, no. 2, 1995, pp. 213–26. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9509084298&site=ehost-live. Accessed 1 June 2017.

Vogelgesang, Gretchen, et al. "The Relationship between Positive Psychological Capital and Global Mindset in the Context of Global Leadership." Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, vol. 21, no. 2, 2014, pp. 165–78.

Yeager, David S., et al. "Using Design Thinking to Improve Psychological Interventions: The Case of the Growth Mindset during the Transition to High School." Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 108, no. 3, 2016, pp. 374–91. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114478199&site=ehost-live. Accessed 1 June 2017.