Abstract
Students’ beliefs of whether intelligence is innate (fixed mindset) or changeable (growth mindset) vastly influence their learning behavior and willingness to persist in face of academic setbacks. Much research effort has been devoted to examining growth mindset interventions in Western countries, but relatively little is known about the impact of mindset interventions on students in the Chinese cultural context where beliefs regarding effort have already been an ingrained part of one’s cultural heritage. The present study examined the effectiveness of a growth mindset intervention on changing students’ mindsets, and also grit, and behavioural tendency as secondary constructs. A sample of community college students (n = 49) in Hong Kong participated in the study where they were randomly assigned to control or experimental group. Intervention materials used in the experimental group involved a text that introduces the concept of growth mindset, followed by writing tasks to deepen understanding. Instruments measuring mindset, grit and behavioral tendency for remedial actions were used before and after the intervention to track changes. Furthermore, students’ self-perception of academic failure and their actual academic performance were used as covariates in the analysis. Repeated measure MANCOVA (2 groups × 2 time points) for growth and fixed mindset, when self-perception of academic failure was controlled, showed significant interaction effect; in particular, the significant interaction effect on mindset was attributed to a greater degree of decrease of growth mindset in control group when compared to their experimental counterparts; whereas no other significant interaction effects was found in other dependent measures even when covariates were controlled. Results yielded both theoretical and educational implications on the design of ‘growth mindset interventions for specific group of students in the Chinese cultural context. Many practitioners may dismiss the effectiveness of ‘small dosage’ of persuasive notes to change students’ mindset in classroom contexts. However, the results of the present study suggests that even a brief message with clear personal relevance would yield buffering effect on students specifically to those who have had major academic setbacks.
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Acknowledgements
The first author would like to express gratitude to the team of counsellors, Ms Tiffanie Ma, Ms Fanies Hao, and Ms Heidi Lai, from a community college, in supporting the data collection process in their summer orientation program.
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Lee, W.W.S., Fong, R.Wt. (2023). Instilling Growth Mindset and Grit in Hong Kong Chinese Community College Students: A Randomized Controlled Intervention Study. In: King, R.B., Caleon, I.S., Bernardo, A.B.I. (eds) Positive Psychology and Positive Education in Asia. Positive Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5571-8_14
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