57 pages • 1 hour read
Carol S. DweckMindset: The New Psychology of Success
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2006A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Mindsets”
In her first chapter, Dweck focuses on setting up background information, sharing her guiding research questions, and defining key terms to set up the major premise of her work. Her thesis is that there are two mindsets that people adopt when confronting challenges and that these mindsets fundamentally shape peoples’ motivations and approaches to challenges and setbacks throughout their lives. Her book sets out to explain why people differ so drastically in their responses to challenge and failure and to answer the deeper question “What are the consequences of thinking that your intelligence or personality is something you can develop, as opposed to something that is a fixed, deep-seated trait?” (4). She provides a brief history of the ways people such as IQ test creator Alfred Binet tried to explain human intelligence and ability in the past; they sought to understand whether nature or nurture accounts for individual variations in ability and accomplishment. She claims her work shows that humans fall into two mindsets about their own abilities: the fixed mindset, in which abilities are viewed as set, and the growth mindset that believes abilities can be developed through effort, practice, and the application of new strategies.
She admits that most psychologists now agree that both nature and nurture, rather than one or the other, shape a person. However, Dweck explains that her work is distinct from theirs because she focuses on the impact of beliefs. She concludes that a person’s base perspective regarding their own ability shapes their response to the world. She ends the section with a study that illustrates the profound difference mindsets can have on a person’s view of the world and of themselves. She implies that anyone can develop a growth mindset with effort and guidance and, furthermore, that doing so will pay off. She concludes by promising those who are still on the fence that if they keep reading, she will reveal how mindsets shape individual motivation and definitions of success, why they impact people so profoundly, and how to cultivate a growth mindset. She also provides a set of exercises at the end of the chapter to help readers reflect on their mindsets and define their own ways of thinking.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Inside the Mindsets”
Chapter 2 develops Dweck’s thesis by clarifying the differences between fixed and growth mindsets and by illustrating how these mental states impact a person’s outlook on the world. The chapter opens with a vignette describing different attitudes that her college classmates displayed in class; some focused solely on proving themselves, while others focused on learning. She originally saw these behaviors as two types of abilities, but now she views them as outcomes of fixed and growth mindsets. These two mindsets lead to fundamentally different behaviors and attitudes in all aspects of a person’s life. The growth mindset embraces learning and effort, but a fixed mindset is often at odds with these concepts. Those with a growth mindset prioritize individual growth, but people with a fixed mindset prioritize individual success.
The belief in fixed traits causes those with a fixed mindset to eschew challenges. People who believe they are born with premeasured, innate qualities do not think it is possible to improve them. Therefore, for people with a fixed mindset, having to exert effort indicates a lack of innate ability; because they believe a person’s natural ability for something cannot be changed, they view effort as a sign that a person is not as smart or as talented as they thought they were. The fixed-mindset belief that ability simply is or is not naturally present within a person leaves no room for corrective remedies, so those with a fixed mindset often do not learn how to change or when to employ new strategies.
By contrast, those with a growth mindset believe that effort and learning create abilities or, at minimum, build a person’s base abilities or talents. Thus, effort and hard work are not associated with shame or a diminished sense of self-worth, as they are in a fixed mindset. This explains why challenges demotivate those with a fixed mindset and why a person might start at the top in an area but then fall. People with this mentality stop seeking the challenges that develop their talents for two reasons: They believe ability comes from talent, not effort, and they become so afraid of proving that they are failures that they opt out of challenges. The opposite is true with a growth mindset; these people often start out in a low position, but because they see failure as temporary and believe effort and learning increase their ability, they tend to exceed expectations.
A person’s mindset, Dweck observes, completely changes the definition of both success and failure. Regarding mental health, the stakes of failure for those with a fixed mindset are much higher because their ideology demands immediate success—even perfection—as proof of an ability. For someone with a fixed mindset, the point of getting admitted to a top institution like Harvard or Julliard is simply to get in, and they see this as confirmation of their natural talent. In contrast, someone with a growth mindset would seek to study at these programs to learn from the best and to grow from the best coaching and training available.
Dweck’s summaries of pertinent research and findings reveal that those with a fixed mindset are more likely to avoid challenge altogether; to place blame, rather than self-reflect; to believe in innate superiority and inferiority, which creates a sense of entitlement; and to cheat instead of trying a different approach in a challenging situation. She even notes in her study of depressed college students that the negative impacts of depression are more pronounced among those with a fixed mindset because it is reactive, whereas those with a growth mindset manage their symptoms proactively. This enables them to bounce back faster and prevents them from falling behind in schoolwork. The solution to unhelpful fixed-mindset reactions is often as simple as teaching people about the growth mindset.
Dweck is careful to address initial misconceptions in her section Question and Answers, assuring readers that mindsets are changeable, and most people have a blend of mindsets. She also affirms that people do have innate talents, and effort alone does not guarantee success or prevent failure. Additionally, failure isn’t simply about not trying hard enough; the issue with the fixed mindset is not so much a question of having or losing confidence, but of the way people respond when their confidence is threatened. She provides another set of exercises at the end of the chapter to help the reader reflect on their own mindset and find alternatives to their own ways of thinking.
Chapters 1-2 Analysis
Dweck uses the first two chapters to introduce and clarify her thesis that “the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life” (6). Chapter 1 opens with a vignette about her study in which a randomly selected group of 10-year-olds was given a set of challenging puzzles and the marked differences in the children’s responses. Some of them tackled the puzzles with joy at the possibility of learning from a challenge, but others gave up as soon as the work became difficult. This contrast is designed to appeal to her audience, the casual reader who might be bored by data analysis. It also immediately illustrates two different mindsets and sets up organizational elements that are used throughout the book.
Dweck regularly relies on contrasting narratives of the two mindsets to address The Power of Perspective: Viewpoint directly impacts individual growth and achievement and, therefore, predicts success. Because Dweck is pioneering a new theory and working to dispel skepticism within the academic community while also writing for a lay audience, her argumentation takes a two-pronged approach. She relies heavily on rhetorical appeals that promote her ethos while presenting anecdotes that might inspire curiosity, amazement, sympathy, or desire in the reader. Her tone is accessible, informal, and wry, creating a conversational voice designed to promote trust in the author.
To establish her credibility, Dweck almost immediately places her inquiry within the framework of earlier studies. For example, she includes a brief history of inquiry into whether human intelligence and talent come from nature or the environment to contextualize her own work as a continuation of an established avenue of inquiry. She also refers regularly to her own studies, citing several of them in the first two chapters, though she presents them less as data-driven proofs than as engaging opportunities for the reader to explore the two mindsets. Dweck generally presents the studies first and then reveals their conclusions, taking the reader through her methodology and detailing each step of her reasoning. For example, in the section aptly called “A Test Score Is Forever,” she reasons that in a fixed mindset, “one test—or one evaluation—can measure you forever” (26), putting undo pressure on the individual to perform flawlessly. In a growth mindset, failure is a signal that a person still needs to learn or try a new approach, but in a fixed mindset, “failure has been transformed from an action (I failed) to an identity (I am a failure)” (33).
Dweck observes that those in a fixed mindset do not link effort with success because they believe that working hard and learning are for those with deficiencies. This places a person in a vulnerable position. As she points out, “If your claim to fame is not having any deficiencies—if you’re considered a genius, a talent, or a natural—then you have a lot to lose. Effort can reduce you” (42). Dweck applies this perspective to the violin prodigy Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who failed to thrive and claimed she didn’t need to practice once she enrolled at Julliard. By taking the reader through this student’s unhelpful thought process, Dweck demystifies her own reasoning, which helps illustrate for the reader that her claims are rooted in careful observation and logic. Dweck provides additional empirical evidence when she refers to her Columbia University study of brain waves in people with different mindsets. She also anticipates counterarguments and questions, dedicating the last section of Chapter 2 to addressing and dispelling reader skepticism. In this way, Dweck demonstrates that her theories are tested and builds credibility with the reader.
To keep lay readers engaged, Dweck employs a battery of tactics that she revisits throughout the book. In Chapter 1, for example, she immerses the reader in one of her studies as a participant. She describes a very bad day in which the reader receives a low grade from a professor, gets a parking ticket, and is ignored by a good friend. She then walks through responses to the scenario from each mindset, allowing her participant to actively experience these thought processes and feelings as she describes them in an empathetic way. Finally, Dweck includes personal anecdotes and references to well-known, respected figures from history and popular culture to help connect her data to the familiar and make her thesis that perspective determines outcome more credible.
