Mind-Sets Matter: A Meta-Analytic Review of Implicit Theories and Self-Regulation

• Published in: Psychological bulletin Vol. 139; no. 3; pp. 655 - 701
• Main Authors: Burnette, Jeni L, O'Boyle, Ernest H, VanEpps, Eric M, Pollack, Jeffrey M, Finkel, Eli J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-05-2013
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement; Adolescent; Adult; Behavioral psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Control theory; Effect Size; Emotions; Feedback (Response); Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Goal Orientation; Goal setting; Goals; Human; Humans; Implicit theories; Intervention; Male; Meta Analysis; Mind; Miscellaneous; Motivation; Personality. Affectivity; Prediction; Psychological factors; Psychological Theory; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Regulation; Reliability; Research Methodology; Self Concept; Self Control; Self-Regulation; Selfcontrol; Selfregulation; Social theory; Student Motivation; Systematic review; Theories; U.S.A; United States; World Views; Young Adult; United States; United States > US; Human; Implicit theory; self-control theory; Self control; Self regulation; self-regulation; Cognition; Review; Achievement; implicit theories; Metaanalysis
• ISSN: 0033-2909; 1939-1455
• DOI: 10.1037/a0029531

This review builds on self-control theory (Carver & Scheier, 1998) to develop a theoretical framework for investigating associations of implicit theories with self-regulation. This framework conceptualizes self-regulation in terms of 3 crucial processes: goal setting, goal operating, and goal monitoring. In this meta-analysis, we included articles that reported a quantifiable assessment of implicit theories and at least 1 self-regulatory process or outcome. With a random effects approach used, meta-analytic results (total unique N = 28,217; k = 113) across diverse achievement domains (68% academic) and populations (age range = 5-42; 10 different nationalities; 58% from United States; 44% female) demonstrated that implicit theories predict distinct self-regulatory processes, which, in turn, predict goal achievement. Incremental theories, which, in contrast to "entity theories", are characterized by the belief that human attributes are malleable rather than fixed, significantly predicted goal setting (performance goals, r = -0.151; learning goals, r = 0.187), goal operating (helpless-oriented strategies, r = -0.238; mastery-oriented strategies, r = 0.227), and goal monitoring (negative emotions, r = -0.233; expectations, r = 0.157). The effects for goal setting and goal operating were stronger in the presence (vs. absence) of ego threats such as failure feedback. Discussion emphasizes how the present theoretical analysis merges an implicit theory perspective with self-control theory to advance scholarship and unlock major new directions for basic and applied research. (Contains 5 figures, 4 tables and 6 footnotes.)