Growth Mindset and Wellbeing: Getting off of the Roller Coaster

 From the 2/5/2021 newsletter

Perspective

 

Growth Mindset and Wellbeing: Getting off of the Roller Coaster

 

David J. Cipriano, Ph.D.

 

 

Dr. Cipriano shares that developing a “growth mindset” can help learners smooth the bumps along the way, viewing setbacks as opportunities rather than signs of failure …

 

 

“Tell a story about you at your best.”  

 

“Now, tell a story about you at your worst.” 

 

For many, there would be a sharp decline in mood with the second part of this exercise.  But not for people with a growth mindset – for them, both outcomes would be taken in stride.  Both scenarios would be followed with, “What did I learn from this?” and the worst scenario would be followed by, “What will I do differently next time?”  Growth mindset – the belief in our capacity to change and grow our abilities, not just our skills or effort, but our supposedly innate abilities – is a natural self-esteem preserver.

 

 

Growth mindset v. fixed mindset 

 

For folks with a fixed mindset – the opposite of a growth mindset – failure is a sign that they are not up to the task; that it’s time to pack it up and move on to something else.  For these people, failure, as a New York Times article points out, has been transformed from a verb (“I failed”) to a noun (“I am a failure”) and, indeed, an identity.  But there is an almost equally dangerous attribution for success among those with a fixed mindset – that this is proof of my God-given talent and validates my awesomeness!  Here’s the problem in Dr. Carol Dweck’s words: If you’re somebody when you’ve succeeded, what are you when you’re not successful?  

 

Dr. Dweck is the originator of this concept and she’s been at it for a while now.  Back in the 1970s, she began asking third graders why they thought they were struggling in math.  This research, firmly grounded in attribution theory led to the discovery that, depending on your belief about how changeable the outcome is, you would be more likely to persevere – and even come to enjoy – math.  People with a growth mindset attribute their failures mostly to effort, but even when they attribute to ability, they have the belief that this ability can grow.  People with a fixed mindset almost always attribute to ability, and without the added benefit of believing this can change.  So their destiny is set, there’s not much reason to consider how they might develop from this.

 

I’ve been steeped in this stuff nearly as long.  Back in the 1980s, my master’s thesis was based on attribution theory and my doctoral dissertation touched on it, as well.  I never thought I’d use these concepts in psychotherapy, though.  Back then, I was going to be a social psychologist and do research like Dr. Dweck.

 

Fast forward to the new century and I find myself working with medical, pharmacy, and graduate students, a high-octane group, to be sure!  When they’re succeeding, they’re great.  But, when they’ve failed, they don’t feel so great.  For people with a fixed mindset, failure can even lead to depression.  Now, failure stings for all of us, but it doesn’t have to define us. In psychotherapy with these folks, I examine the self-talk occurring, which is almost always self-recrimination and self-demeaning.  When I challenge this, I hear, “Being so hard on myself is how I’ve gotten where I am today!”  To which I say, “Your ‘self’ can only take so much of this beating, before it freezes and stops trying.”  

 

 

The fixed mindset leads to a “roller coaster” of self-esteem

 

Imagine the roller-coaster that their self-esteem is on.  If you have a fixed mindset, you’re more concerned about the judgment of others and more worried about making mistakes.  When you’re succeeding, it is confirmation that you are the superstar you’ve always been told that you are.  Feels great – especially if you don’t have to try – because having to try negates the notion of having a ‘gift.’  But, when you’ve had a setback or a failure, it is confirmation of your worst fears.

 

 

Getting from roller coaster to journey

 

A good therapeutic outcome with people stuck in this cycle is for them to separate out their identity from their performance – to rid them of that notion that “I am my grade,” or “My worth can be measured in my performance.”  

 

Imagine, instead of being stuck on a roller coaster, they are enjoying the journey.  Learning is savored, and not a threat.  Mood is stabilized in the knowledge that mistakes are to be expected and will make one even better.  Self-worth is preserved in the belief that there is value in getting knocked down and getting up and trying again.

 

 

For further reading:

Dweck, C.S. (2016). Mindset:  The New Psychology of Success.  Ballentine Books:  New York.

 

 

 

David J. Cipriano, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the MCW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Director of Student and Resident Behavioral Health. He is a member of the Community Engagement Pillar of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education.