The far-reaching effects of believing people can change: implicit theories of personality shape stress, health, and achievement during adolescence.
The belief that personality is fixed (an entity theory of personality) can give rise to negative reactions to social adversities. Three studies showed that when social adversity is common-at the transition to high school--an entity theory can affect overall stress, health, and achievement. Study 1 showed that an entity theory of personality, measured during the 1st month of 9th grade, predicted more negative immediate reactions to social adversity and, at the end of the year, greater stress, poorer health, and lower grades in school. Studies 2 and 3, both experiments, tested a brief intervention that taught a malleable (incremental) theory of personality--the belief that people can change. The incremental theory group showed less negative reactions to an immediate experience of social adversity and, 8 months later, reported lower overall stress and physical illness. They also achieved better academic performance over the year. Discussion centers on the power of targeted psychological interventions to effect far-reaching and long-term change by shifting interpretations of recurring adversities during developmental transitions.
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin.
David Scott
DS
Yeager
Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health.
Rebecca
R
Johnson
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University.
Brian James
BJ
Spitzer
Department of Human Development, University of California.
Kali H
KH
Trzesniewski
Graduate School of Education, Stanford University.
Joseph
J
Powers
Department of Psychology, Stanford University.
Carol S
CS
Dweck
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires