Da Fonseca D, Cury F, Bailly D, Rufo M
Service de pédopsychiatrie, hôpital Sainte-Marguerite, 270, boulevard Sainte-Marguerite, 13009 Marseille, France.
Arch Pediatr. 2004 Oct;11(10):1225-9. doi: 10.1016/j.arcped.2004.04.024.
Since the 50s, the role of implicit theories in the organization and interpretation of information has gained increasing acceptance among both cognitive and social psychologists. These implicit theories refer to the two different assumptions people may make about the malleability of personal attributes. They may believe that a highly valued personal attribute, such as intelligence or morality, is fixed, i.e. a nonmalleable trait-like entity (entity theory), or that the attribute is a malleable quality that can be changed and developed (incremental theory). The identification of these two theories allows us to understand the cognition, emotion and behavior of individuals in achievement situations. Many studies carried out in the primary school show that children who hold an entity theory of personal attribute (i.e. they consider badness like a stable quality) have a strong tendency to attribute their failures to a fixed trait. They are more likely to attribute failures to their bad abilities. In contrast, children who hold an incremental theory of personal attribute (i.e. they consider badness as a malleable quality) are more likely to understand the same negative outcomes in terms of specific factors: they attribute them to a lack of effort. In addition, several studies have shown that entity theorists are more likely than incremental theorists to react helplessly in the face of failure. They are more likely to show negative affect and behaviors. This helpless response pattern is characterized by a lack of persistence. In contrast, incremental theorists try harder and develop better strategies and continue to work. Finally, several studies demonstrate that environmental factors play an important role in the implicit theories elaboration.
自20世纪50年代以来，内隐理论在信息组织和解释方面的作用在认知心理学家和社会心理学家中越来越受到认可。这些内隐理论指的是人们对于个人特质可塑性可能持有的两种不同假设。他们可能认为，诸如智力或道德等高度重视的个人特质是固定不变的，即一种不可改变的类似特质的实体（实体理论），或者认为该特质是一种可改变和发展的可塑品质（增量理论）。对这两种理论的识别使我们能够理解个体在成就情境中的认知、情感和行为。在小学进行的许多研究表明，持有个人特质实体理论的儿童（即他们认为不良行为是一种稳定的特质）强烈倾向于将自己的失败归因于固定的特质。他们更有可能将失败归因于自己能力不足。相比之下，持有个人特质增量理论的儿童（即他们认为不良行为是一种可塑品质）更有可能从具体因素的角度理解同样的负面结果：他们将其归因于努力不足。此外，多项研究表明，面对失败时，实体理论者比增量理论者更有可能表现出无助。他们更有可能表现出消极情绪和行为。这种无助的反应模式的特点是缺乏坚持性。相比之下，增量理论者会更加努力，制定更好的策略并继续努力。最后，多项研究表明环境因素在阐述内隐理论方面起着重要作用。
