Reading time: approximately 11 minutes

What Will You Learn in This Article?

• What Carol Dweck means by a growth mindset, and how it differs from general positive thinking.
• What psychological resilience means, and why it extends beyond an individual’s way of thinking.
• Where the two concepts overlap and where they differ.
• What research says about the benefits and limitations of a growth mindset.
• How to draw on both ideas without turning them into a constant demand to do more.

Introduction

Imagine putting time and effort into a project, only to achieve less than you expected. It might be an exam you did not pass, a professional proposal that was rejected, or a new task that revealed difficulties you had not anticipated. At such moments, we are concerned with both the result and what it means to us: does it reveal the limits of our abilities? Can we improve our performance? Can we face another attempt? These questions can become so entangled that a setback starts to feel like a verdict on our entire future.

Growth mindset and psychological resilience offer two complementary ways of looking at the experience. The first raises the question of whether we can develop our abilities; the second broadens our attention to how we respond to difficulty and what we need to keep living our lives. Understanding their relationship helps us use each concept where it belongs, instead of combining them into general advice such as “Be positive and try again.” We may need learning, support, or a change of direction—and sometimes all three.

Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset: What Do We Believe About Our Abilities?

A growth mindset centres on the belief that a particular ability can be developed through learning, effort, appropriate strategies, and help from others. A fixed mindset, by contrast, views ability as a set characteristic that is difficult to change. In the research of Carol Dweck and her colleagues, this distinction matters because it may affect what difficulty means to us: do I treat it as evidence that I am incapable, or as a situation that calls for a different approach to learning? The possibility of development does not mean that everyone starts from the same place or will reach the same outcome.

Learning a new language offers a useful example. A learner might interpret repeated mistakes as definitive proof that they “have no talent for languages.” Alternatively, they can identify the specific difficulty: do they understand what they read but struggle in conversation? Do they need listening practice, or a safe opportunity to speak? This analysis does not remove frustration or promise fluency. It does, however, turn a sweeping judgement about the self into a more specific problem that can be worked on.

It also helps to identify the domain we are discussing. Someone may believe that their professional skills can improve while seeing their shyness or mathematical ability as unchangeable. Mindset research examines both general beliefs and more specific ones, such as the belief that mathematical ability can develop. Permanently categorising people as having either a growth or a fixed mindset is therefore of limited use. A more useful question concerns what a person believes about the ability they are struggling with right now.

Psychological Resilience: How Do We Respond to Adversity?

Psychological resilience concerns adaptation to adversity over time. Research definitions vary depending on whether the focus is the process of adaptation or the course of functioning after a difficult experience, but understanding resilience requires attention to multiple factors. Psychological, social, economic, cultural, and biological factors interact to shape our responses. Our way of thinking is therefore part of the picture; it cannot, on its own, explain everything that makes coping with adversity possible.

Consider someone who loses their job while supporting a family. They may need to develop a skill that helps them find work, but they also need to manage financial obligations, reorganise their day, and contact people who can offer practical support. Their immediate priority may be securing a temporary income rather than starting a lengthy training course. A resilience perspective allows us to consider these needs together, instead of reducing the experience to whether the person believes they can succeed.

Where Do Growth Mindset and Psychological Resilience Meet?

Research has examined this relationship directly; the comparison is more than a similarity in language. In a review published in 2012, David Yeager and Carol Dweck discussed studies on how believing that abilities and personal characteristics can develop relates to coping with academic and social challenges. The findings they reviewed included persistence in difficult courses and responses to certain experiences of rejection or exclusion among adolescents. These specific settings, however, do not justify assuming the same effects across all ages or forms of adversity.

One way to understand the overlap is through the meaning we give a setback. When a single mistake becomes evidence of permanent inability, the options we can see may narrow. When we leave room for the possibility of learning, it may become easier to consider a different attempt or ask someone with more experience. This is an interpretive account of the connection: believing that development is possible may support some adaptive responses, but it cannot replace the tools and opportunities needed to put them into practice.

Consider an employee receiving feedback on a report she has written. She can begin by asking which skill needs improvement: organising ideas, analysing data, or writing clearly? She can then examine the working conditions: were the instructions clear? Was enough time available? Could she obtain an example or an early review? Bringing these questions together directs attention to both what can be learned and what needs to be provided, without assuming that the problem lies entirely with the employee or entirely outside her responsibility.

Where Do the Two Concepts Differ?

The central distinction is that a growth mindset concerns a belief about whether an ability or characteristic can develop, while resilience concerns adaptation in the face of adversity. Someone may draw on a growth mindset while learning an enjoyable hobby in stable circumstances, without facing a major hardship. Someone else may experience a painful loss and find ways to continue living without treating the experience as a project in performance improvement. This distinction follows from the scope of the two concepts and helps us avoid using them as synonyms.

The difference matters particularly when what we have lost cannot be restored. Not every painful experience is a question of a missing skill, and not every reality can be changed through practice. Appropriate questions may include: how can I organise my life after this change? Which responsibilities need to be redistributed? Who can help me during this period? Learning may remain possible, but it should not crowd out the acknowledgement of loss or create an obligation to turn that loss into an achievement.

What Does Research Say About Growth Mindset Interventions?

In a large US experiment published in Nature in 2019, a brief online intervention about the possibility of developing intellectual abilities improved grades among lower-achieving students and increased enrolment in advanced mathematics courses across the sample overall. The study also showed the importance of school context: the intervention’s benefits for grades were sustained in environments where peer norms supported taking on challenges. This finding encourages attention to the relationship between the message a student hears and the opportunities available to act on it.

However, reviews of the evidence do not agree on how strong these interventions are. A meta-analysis published by Macnamara and Burgoyne in 2023 concluded that the overall effect on academic achievement was very small and was no longer statistically significant after correction for possible publication bias. They also raised concerns about study design, analysis, and reporting. These findings call for caution when presenting growth mindset programmes as a dependable way to raise achievement.

By contrast, a meta-analysis by Burnette and colleagues, also published in 2023, found benefits for some outcomes, paying particular attention to groups expected to benefit and to the quality of intervention delivery. The researchers emphasised substantial variation in the effects expected across studies. The more accurate conclusion is therefore that results depend on what we want to change, for whom, how the intervention is delivered, and under what conditions. Improvements in grades, when they occur, are also insufficient on their own to establish improvements in psychological resilience across all areas of life.

Why Is “Try Harder” Not Enough?

If we reduce a growth mindset to putting in more effort, we may overlook the more important question: what needs to change in the way the work is done? Imagine a student who rereads material for hours but cannot answer questions requiring application. Asking for more hours may simply mean repeating the same approach without understanding the difficulty. A more useful discussion would explore which types of questions are difficult, how the student practises them, and who can help review mistakes.

The same applies to the support we offer others. Instead of stopping at “You can do it,” we might say, “Let’s identify the part you found difficult, then look for what could help.” Instead of interpreting every delay as poor motivation, we can ask about time, instructions, and resources. These are suggested ways of communicating, not a research intervention in their own right. Their value lies in connecting encouragement to help that can be described and put into practice, rather than leaving it as a general expectation placed on the person.

An Environment That Supports Learning and Adaptation

When we ask a student to accept mistakes but embarrass them in front of classmates whenever they make one, our messages conflict in practice. The same happens when we ask an employee to develop skills without providing time for training or opportunities to ask questions. In these examples, changing our wording is insufficient. We need to examine what happens after an attempt and how we respond to questions and mistakes. An invitation to learn becomes clearer when it is accompanied by a specific action that makes learning possible.

The importance of context is consistent with a later study using data from the US national experiment to examine how teachers’ mindsets helped explain differences in students’ intervention outcomes. The study examined the hypothesis that students need a classroom context that supports putting a growth mindset into practice, rather than assuming they can do so equally effectively in any classroom. These findings do not mean that changing a teacher’s belief alone is enough: an educational environment includes many practices, resources, and relationships.

One Example, Two Perspectives

Imagine a woman returning to education after a long break who does not pass her first exam. From a growth mindset perspective, the question might be: which knowledge or study skills can she develop? A discussion may reveal that she understands the material but needs practice with the exam format or organising an answer within the time limit. Instead of the explanation remaining “I’m no longer suited to studying,” she has something specific to explore with her teacher. This does not require assuming that she will succeed immediately on her next attempt.

From a psychological resilience perspective, we also consider whether she can continue within the circumstances of her life. Is she combining study, work, and caregiving? Could she take fewer courses? Is there someone who can share some responsibilities? She might choose to retake the exam with a different plan, or postpone a course until she has more time. In this illustrative example, an opportunity to learn sits alongside a review of the demands on her. Continuing under exactly the same conditions is not the only acceptable outcome.

Questions That Help Turn an Idea into a Decision

We can use this comparison to ask more specific questions about a situation we are facing, without treating them as a test of mindset or resilience. Begin by describing what happened in observable terms: “I did not get the job,” or “I did not understand this part,” rather than making a sweeping judgement such as “I never succeed at anything.” Then ask: what information am I missing? Which part can be learned? What needs to change in the circumstances or support available? Writing down two or three answers may help before choosing a next step.

If you decide to try again, identify what will be different this time and what sign will help you judge whether the change is useful. The next step might be requesting clearer feedback, trying another practice method, or negotiating more time. If you need to pause, try to identify why and what you are waiting to become available. Reviewing the decision can then become part of responding to the situation, without having to prove your strength by continuing or explain every change as a failure.

Further Reading on Resilience

To explore resilience further, consider The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté, which discusses skills for responding to challenges and the role of thinking patterns. It complements this article, while growth mindset remains a research framework with its own questions and evidence. A practical question to take into your reading is: what do I need to understand about my response to difficulty, and what do I need to put in place to respond more effectively?

References

• Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets That Promote Resilience: When Students Believe That Personal Characteristics Can Be Developed. Educational Psychologist.
• Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2023). Mindsets and Adolescent Mental Health. Nature Mental Health.
• Southwick, S. M., et al. (2014). Resilience Definitions, Theory, and Challenges: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology.
• Yeager, D. S., et al. (2019). A National Experiment Reveals Where a Growth Mindset Improves Achievement. Nature.
• Yeager, D. S., et al. (2022). Teacher Mindsets Help Explain Where a Growth-Mindset Intervention Does and Doesn’t Work. Psychological Science.
• Macnamara, B. N., & Burgoyne, A. P. (2023). Do Growth Mindset Interventions Impact Students’ Academic Achievement? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Recommendations for Best Practices. Psychological Bulletin.
• Burnette, J. L., et al. (2023). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Growth Mindset Interventions: For Whom, How, and Why Might Such Interventions Work? Psychological Bulletin.