Factors Affecting on Growth Mindset of university students in China
Keywords:
Growth Mindset, Grit, Optimism, School Climate, Peer Influence, Teacher’s Mindset Belief, University StudentsAbstract
Background and Aims: In China, traditional education models often emphasize grades and rankings, which can easily lead students to develop a fixed mindset, limiting their potential and leading to negative emotions or giving up when facing setbacks. This study aims to investigate the influence of grit, optimism, school climate, peer influence, teacher mindset beliefs on the growth mindset of university students in China.
Methodology: This study employed a questionnaire survey, with a total of 350 students invited to complete the questionnaire. Conclusions were drawn through correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis
Results: (1) All Independent variables showed significant positive correlations with growth mindset: grit (r=.661, p<.01), optimism (r=.604, p<.01), school climate (r=.639, p<.01), peer influence (r=.619, p<.01), and teachers' mindset belief (r=.705, p<.01); (2) Three significant predictors of students’ growth mindset were identified: teacher mindset beliefs (p < 0.001), optimism (p < 0.001), and grit (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Based on these findings, it is recommended to implement strategies that foster the development of students’ growth mindset by enhancing grit and optimism, and by strengthening teachers’ own mindset beliefs to positively influence students.
References
Chen, L., Zhang, Y., & Tang, Y. (2024). The relationship between school climate and growth mindset of junior middle school students: a mediating model of perceived social support and positive personality. Current Psychology, 43(5), 4142-4154.
Dardick, W. R., & Tuckwillber, E. D. (2019). Optimism Shapes Mindset: Understanding the Association of Optimism and Pessimism. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 8(2), 21-56.
Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. J Pers Soc Psychol, 92(6), 1087-1101.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random house.
Huang, C., & Zeng, X. (2023). Social and emotional development of disadvantaged students and its relationship with academic performance: evidence from China. Front Psychol, 14, 1170656.
Kim, J. J., Fung, J., Wu, Q., Fang, C., & Lau, A. S. (2017). Parenting variables associated with growth mindset: An examination of three Chinese-heritage samples [Article]. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(2), 115-125.
Kroeper, K. M., Fried, A. C., & Murphy, M. C. (2022). Towards fostering growth mindset classrooms: identifying teaching behaviors that signal instructors’ fixed and growth mindsets beliefs to students [Article]. Social Psychology of Education, 25(2-3), 371-398.
Laursen, B., & Veenstra, R. (2021). Toward understanding the functions of peer influence: A summary and synthesis of recent empirical research [Review]. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(4), 889-907.
Limeri, L. B., Carter, N. T., Choe, J., Harper, H. G., Martin, H. R., Benton, A., & Dolan, E. L. (2020). Growing a growth mindset: characterizing how and why undergraduate students’ mindsets change. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 35.
Nalipay, M. J. N., King, R. B., Mordeno, I. G., & Wang, H. (2022). Are good teachers born or made? Teachers who hold a growth mindset about their teaching ability have better well-being [Article]. Educational Psychology, 42(1), 23-41.
Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., Romero, C., Smith, E. N., Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Mind-Set Interventions Are a Scalable Treatment for Academic Underachievement [Article]. Psychological Science, 26(6), 784-793.
Rubie-Davies, C. (2014). Teachers' instructional beliefs and the classroom climate: Connections and conundrums. International handbook of research on teachers' beliefs, 266–283.
Tang, X., Wang, M. T., Guo, J., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2019). Building Grit: The Longitudinal Pathways between Mindset, Commitment, Grit, and Academic Outcomes. J Youth Adolesc, 48(5), 850-863.
Thomas, K. J., Santo, J. B., & da Cunha, J. M. (2019). The predictive value of school climate and teacher techniques on students’ just world beliefs: a comprehensive Brazilian sample. Social Psychology of Education, 22(5), 1239-1257.
Xia, H. (2025). Learning Assessment and Accountability for Higher Education in China. Routledge.
Yang, Z. (2020). Examining college students’ epistemological beliefs and mindset of intelligence and their association with learning motivations
Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets That Promote Resilience: When Students Believe That Personal Characteristics Can Be Developed [Review]. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314.
Yu, J., Kreijkes, P., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2022). Students’ growth mindset: Relation to teacher beliefs, teaching practices, and school climate. Learning and Instruction, 80, 101616.
Zhu, X., Yao, Y., & Lu, Q. (2024). The relationships between the growth mindset, writing feedback literacy, and feedback engagement of undergraduate students in L1 Chinese writing learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 80, 101320.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal for Developing the Social and Community
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Articles that are published are copyrighted by the authors of the articles
