Abstract
In this study, the associations among growth mindset, school belonging, and hope to several important academic variables are examined in a diverse sample of 447 high school students. In addition, the contribution made by growth mindset and school belonging to these academic variables is compared to hope’s contribution. Data were collected via a school-administered survey and study analyses include a series of hierarchical regressions. This study had several notable findings. First, although growth mindset and school belonging accounted for meaningful percentages of variance in behavioral engagement, academic self-efficacy, and curiosity after controlling for demographics, both constructs did not meaningfully predict academic achievement, academic self-efficacy for self-regulation, or educational expectations. Second, hope not only accounted for the majority of variance across all academic variables compared to growth mindset and school belonging, but also explained a meaningful portion of all the academic variables (except educational expectations) beyond demographics and both variables. These results indicate that hope interventions might be a better investment than both growth mindset and school belonging interventions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bahník, Š., & Vranka, M. A. (2017). Growth mindset is not associated with scholastic aptitude in a large sample of university applicants. Personality and Individual Differences, 117, 139–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.046.
Bandura, A. (1990). Multidimensional scales of perceived self-efficacy. Stanford: Stanford University.
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78, 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x.
Burnette, J. L., Russell, M. V., Hoyt, C. L., Orvidas, K., & Widman, L. (2017). An online growth mindset intervention in a sample of rural adolescent girls. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 428–445. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12192.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). School connectedness: Strategies for increasing protective factors among youth. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Chan, D. W. (2012). Life satisfaction, happiness, and the growth mindset of healthy and unhealthy perfectionists among Hong Kong Chinese gifted students. Roeper Review, 34, 224–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2012.715333.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York: Routledge Academic.
Cohen, G. L., & Garcia, J. (2008). Identity, belonging, and achievement: A model, interventions, implications. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 365–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00607.x.
Delgado, M. Y., Ettekal, A. V., Simpkins, S. D., & Schaefer, D. R. (2016). How do my friends matter? Examining Latino adolescents’ friendships, school belonging, and academic achievement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45, 1110–1125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0341-x.
Dixson, D. D. (2017). Hope across achievement: Examining psychometric properties of the Children’s Hope scale across the range of achievement. SAGE Open, 7, 2158244017717304. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017717304.
Dixson, D. D., Roberson, C. B., & Worrell, F. C. (2017a). Psychosocial keys to African American achievement? Examining the relationship between achievement and psychosocial variables in high achieving African Americans. Journal of Advanced Academics, 28, 120–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X17701734.
Dixson, D. D., Worrell, F. C., & Mello, Z. (2017b). Profiles of hope: How clusters of hope relate to school variables. Learning and Individual Differences, 59, 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.08.011.
Dixson, D. D., & Stevens, D. (2018). A potential avenue for academic success: Hope predicts an achievement-oriented psychosocial profile in African American adolescents. Journal of Black Psychology, 44(6), 532–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798418805644.
Dixson, D. D., Worrell, F. C., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Subotnik, R. F. (2016). Beyond perceived ability: The contribution of psychosocial factors to academic performance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1377, 67–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13210.
Dogan, U. (2015). Student engagement, academic self-efficacy, and academic motivation as predictors of academic performance. The Anthropologist, 20, 553–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2015.11891759.
Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis.
Dweck, C. S. (2002). Messages that motivate: How praise molds students’ beliefs, motivation, and performance (in surprising ways). InImproving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education (pp. 37–60). San Diego: Academic Press.
Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindsets and math/science achievement. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Feldman, D. B., & Dreher, D. E. (2011). Can hope be changed in 90 minutes? Testing the efficacy of a single-session goal-pursuit intervention for college students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 745–759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9292-4.
Feldman, D. B., & Kubota, M. (2015). Hope, self-efficacy, optimism, and academic achievement: Distinguishing constructs and levels of specificity in predicting college grade-point average. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 210–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.11.022.
Furr, R. M. (2017). Psychometrics: An introduction. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc..
Gibson, M., Bejínez, L., Hidalgo, N., & Rolón, C. (2004). Belonging and school participation: Lessons from a migrant student club. In M. Gibson, P. Gandara, & J. Koyama (Eds.), School connections: U.S. Mexican youth, peers, and school achievement. New York: Teachers College press.
Gillen-O'Neel, C., & Fuligni, A. (2013). A longitudinal study of school belonging and academic motivation across high school. Child Development, 84, 678–692. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01862.x.
Good, C., Rattan, A., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Theories of intelligence influence females’ sense of belonging, intent to continue, and achievement in math. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30, 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6807(199301)30:1<79::AID-PITS2310300113>3.0.CO;2-X.
Goodenow, C., & Grady, K. E. (1993). The relationship of school belonging and friends’ values to academic motivation among urban adolescent students. The Journal of Experimental Education, 62, 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.1993.9943831.
Grantham, N. (2017). The top 50 best books for teachers – Professional development. Retrieved from https://www.fractuslearning.com/2015/04/01/best-books-for-teachers-pd/. Accessed 14 May 2020.
Grant, H., & Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 541–553. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.541.
Joo, Y. J., Bong, M., & Choi, H. J. (2000). Self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, academic self-efficacy, and internet self-efficacy in web-based instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48, 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02313398.
Kashdan, T. B., Gallagher, M. W., Silvia, P. J., Winterstein, B. P., Breen, W. E., Terhar, D., & Steger, M. F. (2009). The curiosity and exploration inventory-II: Development, factor structure, and psychometrics. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 987–998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.04.011.
Kashdan, T. B., Rose, P., & Fincham, F. D. (2004). Curiosity and exploration: Facilitating positive subjective experiences and personal growth opportunities. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82, 291–305. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa8203_05.
Kashdan, T. B., & Yuen, M. (2007). Whether highly curious students thrive academically depends on perceptions about the school learning environment: A study of Hong Kong adolescents. Motivation and Emotion, 31, 260–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-007-9074-9.
Kern, M. L., Waters, L. E., Adler, A., & White, M. A. (2015). A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the PERMA framework. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10, 262–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.936962.
Korpershoek, H., Canrinus, E. T., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & de Boer, H. (2019). The relationships between school belonging and students’ motivational, social-emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes in secondary education: A meta-analytic review. Research Papers in Education. Advance online publication., 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116.
Kuncel, N. R., Credé, M., & Thomas, L. L. (2005). The validity of self-reported grade point averages, class ranks, and test scores: A meta-analysis and review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75, 63–82. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543075001063.
Lee, C. (2016). The roles of hope and growth mind-set in the relationship between mothers’ parenting stress and children’s well-being. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9. https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2015/v8i1/108371.
Lee, C. S., Park, S. U., & Hwang, Y. K. (2016). The structural relationship between mother’s parenting stress and child’s well-being: The mediating effects of mother’s growth mindset and hope. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9. https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i36/102702.
Li, Y., & Bates, T. C. (2017). Does mindset affect children’s ability, school achievement, or response to challenge? Three failures to replicate. Retrieved from https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/tsdwy
Liu, Y., & Lu, Z. (2011). Trajectories of Chinese students’ sense of school belonging and academic achievement over the high school transition period. Learning and Individual Differences, 21, 187–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.12.007.
Magaletta, P. R., & Oliver, J. M. (1999). The hope construct, will, and ways: Their relations with self-efficacy, optimism, and general well-being. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 539–551. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679.
Marques, S., Lopez, S., & Pais-Ribeiro, J. (2011). “Building hope for the future”: A program to foster strengths in middle-school students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12, 139–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-009-9180-3.
Moallem, I. (2013). A meta-analysis of school belonging and academic success and persistence. Chicago: Loyola University.
Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33.
National Science Foundation. (2018a). Award search. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/simpleSearchResult?queryText=school+belonging. Accessed 14 May 2020.
National Science Foundation. (2018b). Award search. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/simpleSearchResult?queryText=growth+mindset. Accessed 14 May 2020.
Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., Romero, C., Smith, E. N., Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Mind-set interventions are a scalable treatment for academic underachievement. Psychological Science, 26, 784–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615571017.
Pintrich, P. R., & de Groot, E. V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.33.
Rand, K. L., Martin, A. D., & Shea, A. M. (2011). Hope, but not optimism, predicts academic performance of law students beyond previous academic achievement. Journal of Research in Personality, 45, 683–686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.08.004.
Riegel, L. A. (2012). Efficacy and academic emphasis: A leadership factor in elementary school principals, and its relationship to hope, resilience, optimism, and view of intelligence (doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest dissertations and theses database. (UMI no. 3520779).
Roeser, R. W., Midgley, C., & Urdan, T. C. (1996). Perceptions of the school psychological environment and early adolescents' psychological and behavioral functioning in school: The mediating role of goals and belonging. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 408–422. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.88.3.408.
Sánchez, B., Colón, Y., & Esparza, P. (2005). The role of sense of school belonging and gender in the academic adjustment of Latino adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 619–628. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-8950-4.
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1993). On the power of positive thinking: The benefits of being optimistic. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2, 26–30.
Schoon, I., & Ng-Knight, T. (2017). Co-development of educational expectations and effort: Their antecedents and role as predictors of academic success. Research in Human Development, 14, 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2017.1305808.
Sherer, M., Maddux, J. E., Mercandante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., & Rogers, R. W. (1982). The self-efficacy scale: Construction and validation. Psychological Reports, 51, 663–671. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1982.51.2.663.
Singh, K., Chang, M., & Dika, S. (2010). Ethnicity, self-concept, and school belonging: Effects on school engagement. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 9, 159–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-010-9087-0.
Sirin, S. R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75, 417–453. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543075003417.
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29, 549–571. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617739704.
Skinner, E., Furrer, C., Marchand, G., & Kindermann, T. (2008). Engagement and disaffection in the classroom: Part of a larger motivational dynamic? Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 765–781. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012840.
Slaten, C. D., Ferguson, J. K., Allen, K. A., Brodrick, D. V., & Waters, L. (2016). School belonging: A review of the history, current trends, and future directions. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 33, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/edp.2016.6.
Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 249–275. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1304_01
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T., Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle, C., & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570–585. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.4.570.
Snyder, C. R., Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Rapoff, M., Ware, L., Danovsky, M., Highberger, L., Ribinstein, H., & Stahl, K. J. (1997). The development and validation of the Children’s Hope scale. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22, 399–421. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/22.3.399.
Strayhorn, T. L. (2012). College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. New York: Routledge.
Sztabnik, B. (2015). The top 15 book recommendations for teachers. Retrieved from http://talkswithteachers.com/top-15-book-recommendations-for-teachers/. Accessed 14 May 2020.
Uwah, C. J., McMahon, H. G., & Furlow, C. F. (2008). School belonging, educational aspirations, and academic self-efficacy among African American male high school students: Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11, 296–305.
Van Ryzin, M. J. (2011). Protective factors at school: Reciprocal effects among adolescents’ perceptions of the school environment, engagement in learning, and hope. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 1568–1580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9637-7.
Van Ryzin, M. J., Gravely, A. A., & Roseth, C. J. (2009). Autonomy, belongingness, and engagement in school as contributors to adolescent psychological well-being. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9257-4.
von Stumm, H., & Chamorro-Premuzic. (2011). The hungry mind: Intellectual curiosity is the third pillar of academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 574–588. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691611421204.
Walker, C. O., Greene, B. A., & Mansell, R. A. (2006). Identification with academics, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy as predictors of cognitive engagement. Learning and Individual Differences, 16, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2005.06.004.
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331, 1447–1451. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1198364.
Weis, R., & Speridakos, E. C. (2011). A meta-analysis of hope enhancement strategies in clinical and community settings. Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice, 1, 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/2211-1522-1-5.
Yarcheski, A., & Mahon, N. E. (2016). Meta-analyses of predictors of hope in adolescents. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 38, 345–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945914559545.
Ye, F. & Wallace, T. L. (2013). Psychological sense of school membership scale. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 32, 202-215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282913504816
Yeager, D. S., Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., & Dweck, C. S. (2013). How can we instill productive mindsets at scale? A review of the evidence and an initial R&D agenda. A White Paper prepared for the White House meeting on “Excellence in Education: The Importance of Academic Mindsets.” Retrieved from https://labs.la.utexas.edu/adrg/files/2013/12/Yeager-et-al-RD-agenda-6-10-131.pdf. Accessed 14 May 2020.
You, J. W. (2016). The relationship among college students’ psychological capital, learning empowerment, and engagement. Learning and Individual Differences, 49, 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.05.001.
Zhan, Y. (2014). Educational expectations, school experiences, and academic achievements: A longitudinal examination. An International Journal, 12, 43–65.
Zimmerman, B., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Self-motivation for academic attainment: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29, 663–676. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312029003663.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The author of this manuscript asserts that: (a) there is no conflict of interest to disclose involving the current study, (b) the current research was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board at one of the author’s institutions and was found to be in compliance with the institution’s ethical standards, and (c) informed consent was obtained from every study participant.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dixson, D.D. How hope measures up: Hope predicts school variables beyond growth mindset and school belonging. Curr Psychol 41, 4612–4624 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00975-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00975-y