The Nature and Reproducibility of Mindset Effects across Diverse Contexts

Learning mindsets and mindset interventions hold great promise for encouraging positive academic outcomes at a large scale. Previously conducted studies on the effects of learning mindsets have primarily drawn from samples that do not allow for a systematic evaluation of the benefits of mindsets across contexts that vary widely in socioeconomic resources and opportunities. It is possible that the effects of mindsets depend heavily on environmental affordances, such that they are stronger or weaker depending upon a given socioeconomic context. Recently collected data from a large national study and from targeted convenience samples provide the opportunity to evaluate such possibilities and to assess the extent to which mindsets and mindset interventions lead to positive academic outcomes across diverse contexts. The planned analysis of mindset effects will have direct implications for students and schools that face high levels of economic adversity, expanding the relevance of mindset research in relation to inequality and public policy.