Relationship Between Mindset and Intelligence

Abstract

Individuals with a growth mindset believe that basic abilities such as intelligence and talent can be increased. Those with a fixed mindset are less likely to believe this will happen. Building growth mindset in students has become a priority for many educators in grades K-12 since it suggests that intelligence is a malleable characteristic that can get stronger with practice and lead to greater achievement in school. The current study investigated the relationship between talent mindsets and intelligence. We measured the mindset of undergraduate students and compared these scores to their performance on verbal and non-verbal intelligence tests. We found no correlation between mindset and verbal and non-verbal intelligence test scores. These results extend existing findings to include a lack of relationship between growth mindset and verbal intelligence.