Cultures of Genius at Work: Organizational Mindsets Predict Cultural Norms, Trust, and Commitment

Three studies examine how organizational mindset—whether a company is perceived to view talent as fixed or malleable—functions as a core belief that predicts organizational culture and employees’ trust and commitment. In Study 1, Fortune 500 company mission statements were coded for mindset language...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality & social psychology bulletin 2020-04, Vol.46 (4), p.626-642
Main Authors: Canning, Elizabeth A., Murphy, Mary C., Emerson, Katherine T. U., Chatman, Jennifer A., Dweck, Carol S., Kray, Laura J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Commitment
Companies
Corporate culture
Cultural change
Employees
Female
Genius
Humans
Innovations
Job Satisfaction
Male
Middle Aged
Mission statements
Morality
Organizational Culture
Social norms
Trust
Work organization
Young Adult
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Summary:Three studies examine how organizational mindset—whether a company is perceived to view talent as fixed or malleable—functions as a core belief that predicts organizational culture and employees’ trust and commitment. In Study 1, Fortune 500 company mission statements were coded for mindset language and paired with Glassdoor culture data. Workers perceived a more negative culture at fixed (vs. growth) mindset companies. Study 2 experimentally manipulated organizational mindset and found that people evaluated fixed (vs. growth) mindset companies as having more negative culture norms and forecasted that employees would experience less trust and commitment. Study 3 confirmed these findings from more than 500 employees of seven Fortune 1000 companies. Employees who perceived their organization to endorse a fixed (vs. growth) mindset reported that their company’s culture was characterized by less collaboration, innovation, and integrity, and they reported less organizational trust and commitment. These findings suggest that organizational mindset shapes organizational culture.
ISSN:0146-1672
1552-7433
DOI:10.1177/0146167219872473