{"id":95529,"date":"2016-06-24T14:43:51","date_gmt":"2016-06-24T14:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/06\/24\/seeing-the-benefits-of-failure-shapes-kids\/"},"modified":"2016-06-24T14:43:51","modified_gmt":"2016-06-24T14:43:51","slug":"seeing-the-benefits-of-failure-shapes-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/06\/24\/seeing-the-benefits-of-failure-shapes-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing the Benefits of Failure Shapes Kids\u2019 Beliefs About Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"

itszombles<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

neurosciencestuff<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Parents\u2019 beliefs about whether failure is a good or a bad thing guide
\n how their children think about their own intelligence, according to new
\n research from Psychological Science<\/i><\/a>, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science<\/a>.
\n The research indicates that it\u2019s parents\u2019 responses to failure, and not
\n their beliefs about intelligence, that are ultimately absorbed by their
\n kids.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

\u201cMindsets\u2014children\u2019s belief about whether their intelligence is just
\nfixed or can grow\u2014can have a large impact on their achievement and
\nmotivation,\u201d explains psychological scientist Kyla Haimovitz of Stanford
\n University, first author on the study. \u201cOur findings show that parents
\ncan endorse a growth mindset, but they might not pass it on to their
\nchildren unless they have a positive and constructive reaction to their
\nchildren\u2019s struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite considerable research on mindsets, scientists have found
\nlittle evidence to suggest that intelligence mindsets are handed down to
\n children from their parents and teachers. Haimovitz and psychology
\nresearcher Carol Dweck, a pioneer in mindset research, hypothesized that
\n parents\u2019 intelligence mindsets might not transfer to their kids because
\n they aren\u2019t readily observable. What kids might see and be sensitive
\nto, the researchers speculated, is their how parents feel about failure.<\/p>\n

Haimovitz and Dweck surmised that parents convey their views about
\nwhether failure is positive or negative through their responses to their
\n children\u2019s setbacks. For example, parents who typically show anxiety
\nand concern when their kids come home with a poor quiz grade may convey
\nthe belief that intelligence is mostly fixed. Parents who focus instead
\non learning from the poor grade signal to their kids that intelligence
\ncan be built through learning and improvement.<\/p>\n

In one study, the researchers asked 73 parent-child pairs to answer a
\n series of questions designed to tap into their individual mindsets. The
\n parents rated their agreement with six statements related to failure
\n(e.g., \u201cExperiencing failure facilitates learning and growth\u201d) and four
\nstatements related to intelligence (e.g., \u201cYou can learn new things but
\nyou can\u2019t really change how intelligent you are\u201d). The children, all
\n4th- and 5th-grade students, responded to similar statements about
\nintelligence.<\/p>\n

As expected, there was no association between parents\u2019 beliefs about
\nintelligence and their children\u2019s beliefs about intelligence.<\/p>\n

However, parents\u2019 attitudes toward failure were linked with
\nhow their kids thought about intelligence. Parents who tended to view
\nfailure as a negative, harmful event had children who were more likely
\nto believe that intelligence is fixed. And the more negative parents\u2019
\nattitudes were, the more likely their children were to see them as being
\n concerned with performance as opposed to learning.<\/p>\n

And the researchers found that parents\u2019 beliefs about failure seemed
\nto translate into their reactions to failure. Results from two online
\nstudies with a total of almost 300 participants showed that parents who
\nadopted a more negative stance toward failure were more likely to react
\nto their child\u2019s hypothetical failing grade with concerns about their
\nchild\u2019s lack of ability. At the same time, these parents were less
\nlikely to show support for the child\u2019s learning and improvement. Their
\nreactions to the failing grade were not linked, however, with their
\nbeliefs about intelligence.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, additional data indicated that children were very much attuned to their parents\u2019 feelings about failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for parents, educators, and coaches to know that the
\n growth mindset that sits in their heads may not get through to children
\n unless they use learning-focused practices, like discussing what their
\nchildren could learn from a failure and how they might improve in the
\nfuture,\u201d says Haimovitz.<\/p>\n

According to Haimovitz and Dweck, these findings could be harnessed
\nto develop interventions that teach parents about the potential upsides
\nof failure, showing parents how they can respond to their children\u2019s
\nsetbacks in ways that are motivating rather than discouraging.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is such an important thing to teach kids. For the last two years of high school and the first three years of college, I believed 100% that when I got a bad grade it was because I wasn\u2019t smart enough to learn the subject material. Analyzing failures and trying new learning strategies until you improve is a life skill. One of my top five goals as a future parent is to teach this.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

itszombles: neurosciencestuff: Parents\u2019 beliefs about whether failure is a good or a bad thing guide how their children think about their own intelligence, according to new research from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research indicates that it\u2019s parents\u2019 responses to failure, and not their beliefs about intelligence, that are … <\/p>\n

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