Department of Psychology, Technical University Dortmund, Emil-Figge-Str. 50, D- 44227, Dortmund, Germany.
J Youth Adolesc. 2021 Jan;50(1):177-188. doi: 10.1007/s10964-020-01345-4. Epub 2020 Nov 10.
Gendered occupational and educational choices have often been traced back to gender differences in students' domain-specific ability self-concept and intrinsic motivation. This study explored the role of believing in an "innate" math or language arts ability (i.e., having a fixed mindset) for gender differences in students' ability self-concept and intrinsic motivation in 423 female (49%) and 447 male (51%) tenth graders from Germany (age M = 16.09 years, SD = 0.68, range: 14-18 years). In line with math-male stereotypes, believing in "innate" math ability was associated with lower ability self-concept and intrinsic motivation in female but not male students. In language arts, students' mindsets were unrelated to their motivation. The results suggest that a fixed mindset presents an additional burden for female students in math, but not for male or female students in language arts.
性别导致的职业和教育选择通常可以追溯到学生在特定领域的能力自我概念和内在动机上的性别差异。本研究通过对德国 423 名女生(49%)和 447 名男生(51%)的十年级学生(年龄 M=16.09 岁,SD=0.68,范围:14-18 岁)进行探索,研究了相信“天生”的数学或语言艺术能力(即具有固定思维模式)对学生能力自我概念和内在动机的性别差异的影响。与数学男性刻板印象一致的是,相信“天生”的数学能力与女生的能力自我概念和内在动机呈负相关,但与男生无关。在语言艺术方面,学生的思维模式与他们的动机无关。研究结果表明,固定思维模式给女生的数学学习带来了额外的负担,但对男生或女生的语言艺术学习没有影响。