The Far-Reaching Effects of Believing People Can Change: Implicit Theories of Personality Shape Stress, Health, and Achievement During Adolescence

The belief that personality is fixed (an entity theory of personality) can give rise to negative reactions to social adversities. Three studies showed that when social adversity is common-at the transition to high school-an entity theory can affect overall stress, health, and achievement. Study 1 sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2014-06, Vol.106 (6), p.867-884
Main Authors: Yeager, David Scott, Johnson, Rebecca, Spitzer, Brian James, Trzesniewski, Kali H, Powers, Joseph, Dweck, Carol S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Achievement
Adolescence
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescent Development
Adolescents
Adversity
Double-Blind Method
Effects
Experiments
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Health
Health Status
High Schools
Human
Humans
Illness
Implicit Learning
Incremental theory
Intervention
Life Changes
Male
Personality
Personality - physiology
Personality Change
Personality Theory
Personality traits
Power
Social Behavior
Social Isolation
Stress
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Students - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teenagers
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Summary:The belief that personality is fixed (an entity theory of personality) can give rise to negative reactions to social adversities. Three studies showed that when social adversity is common-at the transition to high school-an entity theory can affect overall stress, health, and achievement. Study 1 showed that an entity theory of personality, measured during the 1st month of 9th grade, predicted more negative immediate reactions to social adversity and, at the end of the year, greater stress, poorer health, and lower grades in school. Studies 2 and 3, both experiments, tested a brief intervention that taught a malleable (incremental) theory of personality-the belief that people can change. The incremental theory group showed less negative reactions to an immediate experience of social adversity and, 8 months later, reported lower overall stress and physical illness. They also achieved better academic performance over the year. Discussion centers on the power of targeted psychological interventions to effect far-reaching and long-term change by shifting interpretations of recurring adversities during developmental transitions.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/a0036335