Lindsey Ferrin
The Effect of Growth Mindset on the Persistence of Young Adult Athletes
Athletes have all different kinds of things that go through their head everyday, which is called their mental climate. Research shows that different kinds of mental climates, from stereotype threat to mental toughness, can affect how that athlete will perform. Getting that last rep in or staying in the gym an extra hour after practice can show a lot about your mental climate. Are you one to persist in the face of a challenge? Or do you save your resources when the task is seemingly impossible? Do you expect to face struggle and fight to overcome? Or do you finish what you need to and get out? Current literature in mental climates highlights growth and fixed mindset. Fixed mindset is the idea that abilities are static, while growth mindset is the opposite, abilities can be developed (Dweck, 2006). Which are you?
Lindsey Ferrin, a senior at Brigham Young University-Hawaii wanted to investigate the relationship between these mindsets and an athlete’s persistence on an improbable task. Research shows that the mindset of an athlete affects how they will perform.
Impossible tasks as used by Dweck and improbable tasks used by Lindsey help to measure the persistence of an individual. The predetermined mindset (growth or fixed) can be a predictor of how long that athlete will persist.
Lindsey was interested in the study of mindset after learning that the way you think influences your actions, especially in sports. Her hypothesis was that male undergraduate athletes with a growth mindset will persist longer on an athletic endeavor than athletes with a fixed mindset. This study sought to expand the application of mindset outside the cognitive field and into behavioral measures.
Lindsey's research involved recruiting 50 male athletes to participate in a behavioral task that was seemingly impossible. These athletes first took Dweck's Mindset Quiz to determine if they had a fixed or growth mindset. Then athletes were instructed to make 20 three-point shots in a row. Upon failure, the athlete was instructed to keep trying but could give up whenever. Depending on which mindset the athlete acquired, their performance was evident. Those with growth mindsets spent more time shooting baskets than athletes with a fixed mindset. This ability mindset was more evident of persistence than actual mindset.
Two subcategories of overall mindset were determined due to the nature of the mindset quiz. An ability growth and fixed mindset, and a personality/character growth and fixed mindset.
Ability growth mindset was shown to be the most indicative of persistence rather than overall mindset.
What was the most challenging part about your study?
"It was a big challenge to get all my participants! Every boy was allowed to shoot for as long as they wanted, and I had to run at least 48 participants, which led to a lot of time rebounding basketballs! I had about 3 weeks to run all my participants, and I spent every possible moment I could to get all that I needed for statistical validity."
What was the most exciting thing about your study?
"I really enjoyed finishing it! As corny as that sounds, it was gratifying to run an entire study myself and have significant results. I was excited that I pushed through and that I could say I had those skills. Also, the success of my study provides promise for future development of behavioral measures of persistence outside of the cognitive realm studied in the past."Lindsey goes on to talk about interesting experiences she had during her study. She recounted, "Sometimes the boys would get tired of shooting the 3-pointers, but they would refuse to give up (could have been their ego or their mindset) so they would then come up with crazy ways to shoot the basketball, some laying on the floor, others shooting between their legs, all kinds of crazy things, I was always laughing."
Lindsey has gone on to present her research at national conferences. She will be presenting at APS in Chicago May 26-29th, 2016. You can see Lindsey's study in more detail, including statistical test results, by viewing her project poster here.
