The Relationship between a Growth Mindset and Junior High School Students’ Meaning in Life: A Serial Mediation Model

Abstract

A growth mindset is an individual’s belief that human intelligence can be changed through continuous practice and effort. The meaning in life signifies that individuals understand or see the meaning of their own life and are aware of their own goals and the values of their own life. Previous studies have shown that a growth mindset positively promotes individual emotional health and life happiness, but its relationship with meaning in life needs to be clarified. In this study, taking the self-determination theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions as a basis, we constructed a serial mediation effect model to test the mechanism of psychological capital and core self-evaluation in the relationship between a growth mindset and the meaning in life. A total of 565 students from Chinese junior middle schools participated in this study. The growth mindset, meaning in life, psychological capital, and core self-evaluation scales were used to collect the data for the study. The results indicated the following: (1) meaning in life was significantly predicted by growth mindset (β = 0.181, p < 0.001); (2) psychological capital and core self-evaluations played a mediating role in the influence of growth mindset on junior high school students’ meaning in life. The mediating role includes three mediating paths: the individual mediating effects of psychological capital, the individual mediating effects of core self-evaluations, the serial mediating effects of psychological capital and core self-evaluations. The results of this study confirm the benefits of a growth mindset, as well as the potential mechanism by which they impact meaning in life, which positively impacts junior high school students meaning in life.