Zhao H, Zhang M, Li Y, Wang Z. The Effect of Growth Mindset on Adolescents' Meaning in Life: The Roles of Self-Efficacy and Gratitude.
Psychol Res Behav Manag 2023;
16:4647-4664. [PMID:
38024657 PMCID:
PMC10655738 DOI:
10.2147/prbm.s428397]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
Prior research has demonstrated that individuals' growth mindset can predict their happiness and psychological health. As a vital gauge of psychological health, meaning in life may be connected to a growth mindset.
Methods
This study employs a positive psychological perspective and uses Chinese adolescents as the study population. We manipulated the level of growth mindset (high growth mindset vs low growth mindset) in two experiments to examine the effects of growth mindset on adolescents' meaning in life. Additionally, we examined the roles of self-efficacy as a mediator (Study 1) and gratitude as a moderator (Study 2).
Results
Study 1 revealed positive correlations among growth mindset, self-efficacy, and meaning in life. Teenagers with a high growth mindset perceived and experienced life meaning more strongly than those with a low growth mindset. Growth mindset significantly predicted meaning in life, and self-efficacy fully mediated the connection between growth mindset and meaning in life. In Study 2, the connection between growth mindset and meaning in life was moderated by gratitude: in the high-gratitude condition, teens' growth mindsets had a direct significant influence on meaning in life. In contrast, in the low-gratitude situation, growth mindset did not significantly affect meaning in life. Moreover, the fully mediating role of self-efficacy was verified.
Conclusion
The results reveal the mechanism of action by which adolescents' growth mindset affects their meaning in life, broadening the research related to adolescents' growth mindset and providing important theoretical inspiration and practical guidance for teachers, parents and counselling workers to help adolescents obtain higher meaning in life.
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