A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement

TLDR

Behavioural scientists aim to develop scalable interventions to improve adolescent academic outcomes, yet none have been evaluated at a population level. Confidence in the study’s conclusions derives from independent data collection, pre‑registered analyses, and corroboration by a blinded Bayesian analysis. A short, online growth‑mindset intervention raised grades for lower‑achieving U.S.

Abstract

A global priority for the behavioural sciences is to develop cost-effective, scalable interventions that could improve the academic outcomes of adolescents at a population level, but no such interventions have so far been evaluated in a population-generalizable sample. Here we show that a short (less than one hour), online growth mindset intervention—which teaches that intellectual abilities can be developed—improved grades among lower-achieving students and increased overall enrolment to advanced mathematics courses in a nationally representative sample of students in secondary education in the United States. Notably, the study identified school contexts that sustained the effects of the growth mindset intervention: the intervention changed grades when peer norms aligned with the messages of the intervention. Confidence in the conclusions of this study comes from independent data collection and processing, pre-registration of analyses, and corroboration of results by a blinded Bayesian analysis. A US national experiment showed that a short, online, self-administered growth mindset intervention can increase adolescents' grades and advanced course-taking, and identified the types of school that were poised to benefit the most.