Changing misconceptions of abilities: The impact of a brief mindset refutation text intervention

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Abstract
The current study investigated whether a brief refutation text intervention could change college students’ misconceptions about the malleability of their intelligence and abilities. Students from a 2‐year college and a 4‐year university in a large urban city in the Northeastern United States participated in experimental and control conditions. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated a significant overall model with a medium effect size (ηp2 = 0.11) for increased growth mindset and decreased fixed mindset for students in the experimental condition. A follow‐up χ2 analysis for a dichotomous variable of fixed/growth mindset demonstrated a 3% increase from pre‐ to posttest (from 229 students to 236) of students believing in growth mindset. The results demonstrate that a refutation text intervention is effective in promoting growth mindset in undergraduate college students during a brief mindset intervention. This study extends research from a European secondary school context to a US college context.

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