Mending Mindsets: Turning Over A New Leaf
Today’s the day. The day you’ve been patiently waiting for this entire week. You are nervous, excited, and sweaty. After spending days pulling all nighters, you took an exam three days ago and are finally getting the graded test back. You are hoping for an A, but you know there are silly mistakes you could’ve made on this test and are now really anxious to see your test score. The teacher places your paper in front of you face down. You give yourself a few seconds before flipping it over and BAM! On the top of the exam in bold, red pen is the score 25/40. You are feeling disappointed. There are many thoughts running through your head. “What did I do wrong?” “How did I get this grade?” “I thought I would get an A”. How do you respond to this situation?
In the book Mindsets, author Carol Dweck discusses the importance of having a healthy mindset and recovering from negative experiences. She addresses the debate on whether attitudes are fixed and takes the stance that we can change our mindsets for the better. Dweck explains how people with a fixed mindset believe that failure is personal weakness which discourages them from seeking improvement. On the other hand, people with the growth mindset treat failure as a challenge to perform better and are always willing to turn weakness into strength. I agree with Carol Dweck that unhealthy mindsets can and must be changed because Dweck’s evidence and my own personal experiences confirm it.
Carol Dweck is surely right about personal growth, as the studies she presents strongly support her stance that mindsets can be changed. In the first chapter, Carol Dweck includes the following quote from Robert Sternberg saying that intelligence “is not some fixed prior ability, but purposeful engagement”, in other words, putting in the effort for self improvement. In the second chapter, Dweck elaborates on a study she performed on preschoolers. She gave four year olds the option to complete a puzzle multiple times. The children with growth mindsets were frustrated that there was no challenge and those with fixed mindsets enjoyed the familiarity of completing the same puzzle. A seventh grader perfectly concluded the study: “I think intelligence is something you have to work for… it isn’t just given to you”. In order to learn, one must be willing to challenge themselves and work their hardest. There should not be a fear of failure. Dweck goes on to explain the other side of the argument: the fixed mindset. Dweck believes that people with fixed mindsets are not pessimistic or have low self esteem, but rather have a different coping mechanism for negative experiences. They feel that the fixed mindset is better because they believe it protects them from failure. Dweck performed research by asking people with fixed mindsets on how they would react if they received a C+ on a midterm. They responded negatively, saying “I’d feel like a reject”, “I’m a loser”, or “I’m a total failure”. This train of thought prevents them from changing their mindset and trying to perform better on the next exam, as they have already internalized the midterm score.
I agree that unhealthy mindsets must be changed, a point that needs emphasizing as many people believe that intelligence is fixed. In the third chapter, Dweck conducts a study on students during their transition to junior high. It was found that “only the students with the fixed mindset showed the decline. The students with the growth mindset showed an increase in their grades over the two years”. They started with the same grades and ended up in different situations in junior high. This shows how influential the mindset is on a person’s success. In order to put this in a way that is familiar for readers, Dweck’s argument includes influential people who were known to have growth mindsets. For instance, Darwin and Tolstoy were considered average when they were children, but they went on to become inspirational people. Cindy Sherman did not pass her photography class, which people would consider an obstacle in her career, but she ended up becoming a successful photographer. The growth mindset helps people overcome obstacles and accomplish their goals in life. Without this mindset, it is possible for people to feel stuck in place, which is common with a fixed mindset. Especially among young people, the level of intelligence is directly connected to the ego. They create a fixed mindset out of fear of becoming a “loser” and being scrutinized by family and peers. This might work temporarily, but it would lead to low self esteem issues in the long run. In chapter 8, Carol Dweck introduces an experiment conducted by psychiatrist Aaron Beck in the 1960s. He found that people mentally keep a “running account” of daily events. “Some people put more extreme interpretations on things that happen — and then react with exaggerated feelings of anxiety, depression, or anger. Or superiority”. These running accounts can lower people’s self confidence, which is why it is important to face the mistakes we make and think about how to do better next time.
Carol Dweck’s theory of the effect of mindset on success is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of confidence in academics. I have had issues with my performance in my physics class this past year. I was trying really hard to earn the scores I wanted but it didn’t happen. I concluded that I was not smart enough, which discouraged me from putting in effort and further deteriorated my grade. I wanted to avoid feeling insecure about my grades, but this actually made my performance worse. This created a self destructive cycle that was hard to break. Fortunately, in the second semester, my test scores improved after I developed a new mindset with the help of my teacher. I changed my study habits to give myself more time and focus more conceptually instead of just completing practice problems. I also focused more on identifying mistakes and fixing them instead of attempting to succeed on the very first try. I was able to correctly answer more questions on tests and regained my confidence in the subject. I remember something my mom said that was strikingly similar to what Carol Dweck said in Mindsets. My mom said that if I have passion in a subject, the grades will follow. In Mindsets, Dweck also says that “passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset”, and I have never understood this quote better than I do now. I continue to put passion in physics and I am seeing the positive results, which further convinces me that fixed mindsets are not permanent and can be changed.
Changing mindsets will take time and energy and cannot happen overnight. That is why it is important for people to have the necessary resources and support from the people around them during this time. Counseling at schools and conversations at home can really guide a student through this journey. I also realize that people start their journey at different points in their life. One person might be going through a difficult time while another might have just experienced something inspirational and motivating. Everyone’s journeys will be different, so it is not to say that the advice Dweck provides will work for everyone. It would be most beneficial to attempt the advice and see which method works best for developing a healthy mindset. Having a growth mindset will allow a person to better process their negative experiences and come out a stronger version of themselves. Therefore, the journey might be tough, but the end result will be worth it.
