Progress-focused

“I need to control myself.” This simple statement raises a profound question: Who is the “I” that needs to control, and what is the “myself” that needs to be controlled? How can someone be one and the same, yet appear to be made up of many different parts? This confusion shows up not only in language, but also in our thinking about the self. Think of terms like “self-coaching” or “self-compassion.” Who is coaching whom? Who is showing compassion, and to whom? This raises the question: What is the true self? In this article, we’ll look at three key theories that help us better understand the self: mindset theory, self-determination theory (SDT), and Douglas Hofstadter’s idea of ​​the self as a “strange loop.” 

Recent advances in mindset research highlight the importance of teacher mindsets in shaping classroom culture. Understanding how teacher mindsets and behaviors impact students is useful for promoting positive educational outcomes. A new study by Muenks et al. (2024) helps in this regard.

  "Gen Z has no work ethic", "Boomers don’t understand technology", "Millennials are lazy and spoiled." We hear them a lot: these kinds of generational stereotypes . These stereotypes are used to explain differences in work attitude, lifestyle, or values. But how true are these statements? Is there really such a big difference between generations, or are we missing the real point? In this article I will discuss, based on research by sociologist Martin Schröder, why the distinction between generations is of little use.

I recently received a message that got me thinking about what I call “ the illusion of effortless success .” Someone shared with me their struggle: they saw themselves as a constant struggle, while others around them seemed to achieve everything effortlessly. When asked about pride in their own accomplishments, their response was a soberingly negative one. This struck me, not only because of its candor, but also because it echoes a sentiment that many of us are familiar with.

  Psychological knowledge is useful to everyone because psychology permeates every aspect of our lives. From our deepest thoughts to our interactions with others, psychological factors influence how we perceive the world and how we act in it. As George Miller so aptly put it in 1969 :

The mindset theory and the self-determination theory are two important pillars of progress-focused work. Within the progress-focused approach, we see both theories as important and complementary frameworks for understanding commitment, progress, and well-being. A new study also looks at the relationships between these two theories, in particular the interplay between mindset and basic psychological needs.

Two concepts are central to the progress-focused approach : the growth mindset and autonomous motivation. These theories form important pillars of our approach, which is aimed at sustainable effort and meaningful progress. But do growth mindset and autonomous motivation have anything to do with each other? Don't the concepts come from very different research schools? The answer is yes, they are definitely related. In this article, I look at some studies that show there is an interesting interplay between growth mindset and autonomous motivation.

Ethical leadership plays an important role in shaping the ethical culture within organizations. People often associate dominant leadership with strong performance and decision-making power, but recent research by Brady and Sivanathan (2024) shows that this leadership style can also have unintended negative consequences for workplace ethics. These findings are relevant for organizations that strive for both high performance and an ethically responsible work environment.

The negativity bias influences how contact between groups reinforces prejudices and ideas about other groups. This has long been researched by psychologists. Previous research suggests that positive intergroup contact can reduce prejudice. However, a recent meta-analysis by Paolini et al. (2024) points to a more complex picture. This is especially true when people can choose whether they have contact with others. I discuss this meta-analysis below. The researchers looked at the role of negative and positive experiences in intergroup contact. They also looked at the influence of self-selection and the impact of negativity bias.

The mental health of young people is increasingly under pressure, partly due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers are therefore looking for effective ways to support adolescents in dealing with these challenges. A recent study by Lipsey et al. (2024) examined the effectiveness of a brief online growth mindset intervention targeted at high school students. This approach could not only help reduce depressive symptoms, but also strengthen the mental resilience of young people.

We often see intelligence as the source of progression and innovation. But Robert Sternberg shows in a new article that intelligence is not necessarily good. In his article “ Dark Intelligence: When the Possibility of 1984 Becomes Reality ”, he introduces the concept of 'dark intelligence'. In this article, I will change this term to 'malicious intelligence' (see explanation below). With malicious intelligence, intelligence is not used for the good of society but for harmful and even malicious purposes. His work raises questions about the ethical side of intelligence and the responsibility that comes with cognitive abilities.

As a psychology student in the 1980s, I learned that researchers Schmidt and Hunter indicated that IQ tests were strongly predictive of job performance, with correlations ranging from 0.51 to 0.65. However, recent research by Steel and Fariborzi (2025) suggests that this correlation may have decreased to as low as 0.16.

A new study by Zhao et al. (2024) provides insight into the benefits of a growth mindset. The study examines how a growth mindset can contribute to greater mental resilience and adaptability. This specifically examines the role of cognitive fusion and negative information bias.

An old woman had just lost her husband. I spoke to her on the phone. While I was talking to her, she mentioned that a butterfly flew into the room. The butterfly landed on her late husband's watch in front of her. She let out a cry of wonder and said, “This can't be a coincidence! The butterfly was his favorite animal. He comes to greet me.”  I could understand her reaction and did not contradict her. But David J. Hand's book “ The Improbability Principle ” offers insight into why events we think cannot be a coincidence are more common than we think and why our intuitive responses are often misleading.

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett previously wrote the books The Spirit Level (2010) and The Inner Level (2019) about the effects of economic inequality. The Spirit Level demonstrated a strong correlation between health and social problems in societies and income inequality, suggesting that greater equality leads to better social outcomes. The Inner Level examined how economic inequality contributes to psychological problems such as status anxiety, low self-esteem, stress, depression, narcissism, and materialism. In a new article, they discuss the increasing inequality in British society and its detrimental effects on people's health and wellbeing.

The mental health of pupils and students has become an important topic of concern in recent years. The pressure to perform, social expectations, and learning challenges can place a heavy burden on young people. A recent study by Kroeper et al. (2024) provides insight into a crucial factor contributing to this stress: the perception of mindset in the classroom. They discovered a vicious circle of mindset and psychological stress.

Democracy is under pressure worldwide. In a recent post , I expressed my concern about whether the democratic constitutional state is in good hands with the new Dutch government. For a long time, I had the impression that many people thought and understood that democracy was good. But in personal conversations, I have noticed in recent years that people find it difficult to give specific and substantiated answers to the question, “Is a democracy better than a dictatorship, and if so, why?” I think it would be useful to consider the psychological benefits that democratic systems offer compared to autocratic regimes.

In the world of personal development and psychology, we often use terms such as autonomy, independence, and freedom interchangeably. Although these concepts may seem similar, they represent different aspects of the human experience and motivation. Below I explain why autonomy is different from independence and freedom, and why it is important to understand these differences.

Recent studies show that visualizing goals can have a powerful influence on human behavior and performance. A new study ( Voigt et al., 2024 ) focuses on understanding the mechanisms behind this phenomenon. In particular, they examined how visual representations of goals can influence individuals' motivation and performance.

Previously, I wrote about toxic negativity and toxic positivity . In this article, I present the Negative-Positive Response Model (NPR), a 2x2 model for dealing with problems and contradictions. This model contrasts three ineffective ways of responding to problems with a progress-focused attitude.

Management practices are based on fundamental assumptions about what motivates people. In a recent article , Marylène Gagné and Rebecca Hewett set out two contrasting views on this: agency theory and self-determination theory. Agency theory assumes that people are primarily motivated by external incentives and control, while self-determination theory states that people are driven by the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Although self-determination theory is supported by decades of research demonstrating the added value of autonomous motivation, agency theory is still the dominant assumption in management practices.

A manager in our training said that he was going to ask employees for feedback. It was about the following topic. Research by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer shows that a positive inner work experience has to do with how positively you feel about your work, how good you feel at work, and that you have the feeling that your work matters. This work experience largely determines how well you function, also as managers. We gave our managers a checklist with examples of actions they could take to increase the positive inner work experience of their employees. We also gave the checklist examples of actions that undermine employees’ inner work experience and that they should therefore avoid.

During a recent training that we gave to managers, we discussed research by Teresa Amabile on inner work experience. One of the implications of Amabile's research is that, as a manager, it is wise to try to limit negativity in your own communications. When we addressed this, one participant asked, “But how do you deal with someone else who is very negative?” This question is understandable and provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on the topic of negativity.

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