Progress-focused

Previous studies suggest that there is an association between a fixed mindset about personality and internalizing symptoms such as depression and psychological distress. To what extent does this relationship indeed exist and how might it come about?

How does autonomy support by coaches relate to the functioning of athletes? In the sports world, stories are regularly published about how athletes are guided authoritatively by their coaches. For example, in the gymnastics world, athletes were humiliated, insulted, and blackmailed. The most important motivation theory within psychology, the self- determination theory (SDT), argues for a completely different way of guiding athletes. This way of coaching revolves around autonomy support. A new study maps the correlations between autonomy support and various aspects of athlete functioning.

Research has shown that two aspects of childhood adversity (threats and deprivation) are associated with two types of problems: low academic performance and internalizing symptoms. In a new study, Lucy Lurie et al. (2022) look at the role of mindset in this.

On this site you may have already read about intrinsic goals and extrinsic goals. Research within self- determination theory suggests that choosing intrinsic goals is a wiser choice than choosing extrinsic goals. New research supports this.

New research shows that fostering a growth mindset encourages employees to help others develop.

Here I discuss a paper in Science by Nicolas Light et al. (2022) . The article shows that people who disagree most with the scientific consensus on topics such as climate change, vaccination and evolution have less knowledge about these topics than people who believe in the scientific consensus but they think they know more about it. They have an illusion of understanding. 

I interviewed Canadian psychologist Keith Stanovich twice ( here and here ). He has done a lot of groundbreaking work in the fields of rationality and the psychology of reading.  In his new book The Bias That Divides Us: The Science and Politics of Myside Thinking he Stanovich argues that we do not live in a post-truth society. He argues that we rather live in a myside-society. 

A new study shows that inducing an empathetic mindset in teachers through a short online exercise can lead to teachers sending students out of the classroom less frequently.