Yuan Rong-Man, Peng Wen-Ya, Jiang Jiang
Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Mental Health Center, Beijing Youth Politics College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 Sep 3;17:3101-3109. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S468490. eCollection 2024.
Growth mindset and self-control, both recognized as pivotal qualities with significant impacts on personal success, possess respective robust predictive power for academic achievement and broader life outcomes. However, the bidirectional relationship between them remains largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate whether growth mindset, conceptualized as the belief that abilities can be developed through effort and support, prospectively predicts the development of self-control over time. Additionally, it endeavors to explore whether self-control, a crucial positive psychological trait, exerts an influence on the fostering of growth mindset. In summary, our research focuses on elucidating the bidirectional relationship between growth mindset and self-control among Chinese primary school students.
The current research recruited a sample of 428 primary school students, aged 9-12, from China (214 females, mean age = 9.64 ± 1.21) to participate in a longitudinal study. Participants underwent two follow-up assessments of growth mindset and self-control over a six-month period.
The correlation analysis revealed significant associations between growth mindset at T1 and self-control at T2, as well as between self-control at T1 and growth mindset at T2( = 0.23 to 0.25, s < 0.01). Cross-lagged analysis found that growth mindset at T1 positively predicted self-control at T2 (β 0.11, = 0.04), while self-control at T1 did not significantly predict growth mindset at T2.
The results suggest that growth mindset exerts a direct impact on self-control among primary school students. This finding extends the scope of research concerning growth mindset and provides important theoretical inspiration and practical guidance for educators, parents and counselling professionals in assisting students to enhance self-control.
成长型思维模式和自我控制能力均被视为对个人成功具有重大影响的关键特质，它们分别对学业成就和更广泛的生活成果具有强大的预测力。然而，它们之间的双向关系在很大程度上仍未得到充分探索。本研究旨在调查成长型思维模式（即认为能力可以通过努力和支持得到发展的信念）是否能前瞻性地预测自我控制能力随时间的发展。此外，本研究还试图探讨自我控制能力（一种关键的积极心理特质）是否会对成长型思维模式的培养产生影响。总之，我们的研究聚焦于阐明中国小学生成长型思维模式与自我控制能力之间的双向关系。
本研究从中国招募了428名9至12岁的小学生（214名女生，平均年龄 = 9.64 ± 1.21）作为样本，参与一项纵向研究。参与者在六个月的时间里接受了两次关于成长型思维模式和自我控制能力的随访评估。
相关性分析显示，T1时刻的成长型思维模式与T2时刻的自我控制能力之间存在显著关联，T1时刻的自我控制能力与T2时刻的成长型思维模式之间也存在显著关联（r = 0.23至0.25，p < 0.01）。交叉滞后分析发现，T1时刻的成长型思维模式能正向预测T2时刻的自我控制能力（β = 0.11，p = 0.04），而T1时刻的自我控制能力对T2时刻的成长型思维模式没有显著预测作用。
研究结果表明，成长型思维模式对小学生的自我控制能力有直接影响。这一发现扩展了关于成长型思维模式的研究范围，并为教育工作者、家长和咨询专业人员在帮助学生提高自我控制能力方面提供了重要的理论启示和实践指导。
