Mindset

Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University, built this book on twenty years of her own research into how people think about their abilities. Her central claim is simple. Some people believe their qualities, such as intelligence and talent, are fixed; others believe they can be developed. She calls these two beliefs the fixed mindset and the growth mindset, and argues that the belief you hold changes how you meet challenge, failure, effort and criticism.

The book has eight chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the two mindsets and what they do to success, failure and effort. Chapter 3 looks at ability and achievement in school, and at the effects of praise. Chapters 4 to 6 follow the mindsets into sports, business and close relationships. Chapter 7 asks where mindsets come from, looking at parents, teachers and coaches, and chapter 8 describes how a mindset can change.

Notes. Dweck says that in most cases the names and personal details in her stories are changed, and that in some cases several people are combined into one. Her stories about famous athletes and business leaders are her reading of public accounts such as memoirs and news reports, and the lessons she draws from them are her interpretation. She also simplifies on purpose: most people hold a mixture of the two mindsets. This summary follows the original 2006 text; the updated edition adds a discussion of what she calls a false growth mindset. Later large studies of mindset programs in schools have found small or no effects on grades. A 2019 trial in 101 English schools found no extra progress in reading or maths, while a US national study published the same year found small gains, mainly among lower-achieving students.