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Key takeaways:
- A growth mindset is the belief that abilities can be developed; a fixed mindset is the belief that they're mostly set.
- The free quiz has 12 agree-or-disagree statements, and your results are emailed to you.
- Your result is an informal prompt for reflection and can't predict how you'll perform.
- Research suggests mindset matters most for some people in supportive settings, with weak effects on average.
A mindset quiz asks how much you agree with statements about intelligence, talent and effort, then shows whether your beliefs lean toward a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Psychologist Carol Dweck's research describes a growth mindset as believing abilities can be developed, and a fixed mindset as believing they're largely fixed. Our free quiz has 12 statements and takes a few minutes. [1]
Most people don't sit neatly at either end. You might feel sure you can get better at your job and still believe you're "just not a numbers person". The quiz helps you notice where your beliefs land.
What does the mindset quiz ask?
You'll rate 12 statements on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. They cover four themes:
Intelligence. Whether you think how smart you are can change.
Talent and personality. Whether abilities like sport, or your personality, are mostly fixed.
Effort and failure. Whether working harder makes you better, and whether setbacks help you improve.
Feedback and other people's success. Whether criticism upsets you, and whether a friend's success inspires you or feels threatening.
The statements are similar in style to the short agree-or-disagree questionnaires researchers use to study these beliefs. [2]
At the start you'll be asked for your first name, and at the end for your email address. Your results are sent to that inbox.
How do I read my result?
Your result shows which way your answers lean. Agreeing that intelligence and talent can grow, that effort pays off and that feedback is useful points toward a growth mindset. Agreeing that ability can't change much, or that others' success is a threat, points toward a fixed mindset.
Treat it as a prompt for reflection. It's an informal quiz, so it can't diagnose anything or predict how you'll do at work, school or anything else. The statements you agreed with most strongly are often the most useful part, because they show the specific beliefs worth questioning.
Does a growth mindset really make a difference?
The research is more mixed than popular articles suggest. A 2018 pair of meta-analyses in Psychological Science found that the link between mindset and academic achievement was weak overall, across more than 365,000 students. A second analysis of about 57,000 students found mindset programs also had weak effects on average, though students from lower-income backgrounds or who were struggling academically appeared more likely to benefit. [3]
A large 2019 experiment published in Nature tested a short online growth mindset lesson, under an hour long, with a nationally representative sample of US high school students. It improved grades among lower-achieving students, and it worked best in schools where classmates' attitudes supported the same message. [4]
Put together, beliefs about whether you can improve seem to matter for some people, in the right setting.
Can you change your mindset?
Beliefs aren't set in stone, and the studies above tested short lessons designed to shift them. If your result leans fixed, a few small habits can help you test those beliefs:
Add "yet". Turn "I can't do this" into "I can't do this yet".
Look at the process. After a setback, ask what you'd try differently next time.
Use feedback as information. Ask one specific question about how to improve.
For a deeper look at the research and more ways to build a growth mindset, read our guide to growth vs fixed mindset.
If negative thoughts about yourself are affecting your mood, sleep or daily life, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional.
Frequently asked questions
Can you have a growth and fixed mindset at the same time?
Yes. Many people hold growth beliefs about some areas, like work skills, and fixed beliefs about others, like math or creativity. Dweck's work describes these as beliefs about particular qualities, which can differ from one area to another. [2]
Is the mindset quiz free?
Yes. You'll need to enter an email address to receive your results.
The bottom line
The mindset quiz is a quick way to see whether your beliefs about ability lean growth or fixed. Use your result to spot the beliefs worth questioning, and read the research with realistic expectations.
References
Dweck CS, Leggett EL. A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychol Rev. 1988;95(2):256–273. DOI link.
Dweck CS, Chiu C, Hong Y. Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: a word from two perspectives. Psychol Inq. 1995;6(4):267–285. DOI link.
Sisk VF, Burgoyne AP, Sun J, Butler JL, Macnamara BN. To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychol Sci. 2018;29(4):549–571. DOI link.
Yeager DS, Hanselman P, Walton GM, et al. A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature. 2019;573(7774):364–369. DOI link.
