Abstract
Although prior research has extensively documented the correlates of growth mindset, little is known about its antecedents in undergraduate students. Guided by the self-determination theory, the current study investigated the association of perceived autonomy support (i.e., parental autonomy support and teacher autonomy support) with growth mindset and assessed whether sense of coherence mediated this association. A total of 1,030 Chinese undergraduate students (62.4% females; Mage = 20.44, SD = 1.52) aged from 18 to 25 years were involved in this study; they were asked to fill out a set of self-reported questionnaires. Results of the structural equation modeling showed that sense of coherence fully mediated the association between parental autonomy support and growth mindset and between teacher autonomy support and growth mindset. More precisely, parental autonomy support and teacher autonomy support were each positively associated with sense of coherence, which in turn was positively related to growth mindset. The current findings further confirm the beneficial effect of autonomy support on individuals’ adaptive skills in a collective cultural context, suggesting that autonomy-supportive parents and teachers can contribute to undergraduate students’ growth mindset through the role of sense of coherence.
Highlights
Growth mindset concerns the belief that an individual’s basic attributes are malleable and can be cultivated through endeavors (Dweck et al, 1995; Dweck, 2015)
Following the procedure proposed by Leys et al (2013), we first calculated the median of the key study variables (5.16 for parental autonomy support, 4.85 for teacher autonomy support, 4.15 for sense of coherence, and 4.66 for growth mindset)
The results exhibited that no extreme outliers were identified in this study
Summary
Growth mindset concerns the belief that an individual’s basic attributes are malleable and can be cultivated through endeavors (Dweck et al, 1995; Dweck, 2015). Several salient features of the Chinese society make it an especially appropriate context in which to investigate the antecedents of growth mindset. Embedded in Confucian ideology, the Chinese culture underscores the belief that intrinsic motivation, continuous endeavors, and willpower are essential to personal success (Lan et al, 2019b; Ma et al, 2020), which are independent of individuals’ intelligence and social status (Curdt-Christiansen, 2008). A better understanding of the antecedents of growth mindset among Chinese undergraduate students would be crucial as it may impact their academic performance in college, future career ambitions, and psychological well-being in later life
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