Mindset

A mindset is an established set of attitudes of a person or group concerning culture, values, philosophy, frame of mind, outlook, and disposition.[1] It may also arise from a person's worldview or beliefs about the meaning of life.[2]

Some scholars claim that people can have multiple types of mindsets.[3] Some of these types include a growth mindset, fixed mindset, poverty mindset, wealth mindset,[vague] abundance mindset, and positive mindset among others that form the make up of a person's overall mindset.[4]

More broadly, scholars have found mindset is associated with a range of functional effects in different areas of people’s lives. This includes influencing a person’s capacity for perception by functioning like a filter, a frame of reference, a meaning-making system, and a pattern of perception. Mindset is described as shaping a person’s capacity for development by being associated with passive or conditional learning, incremental or horizontal learning, and transformative or vertical learning. Mindset is also believed to influence a person’s behavior, having deliberative or implemental action phases, as well as being associated with technical or adaptive approaches to leadership.[5]

A mindset could create an incentive to adopt (or accept) previous behaviors, choices, or tools, sometimes known as cognitive inertia or groupthink. When a prevailing mindset is limiting or inappropriate, it may be difficult to counteract the grip of mindset on analysis and decision-making.[6]

In cognitive psychology, a mindset is the cognitive process activated in a task.[7]

  1. ^ "mindset, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press. March 2022.
  2. ^ "What is a Worldview?". Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  3. ^ Buchanan, A. (2024). Mindset types: A systematic review and meta-analysis. doi:10.31234/osf.io/x5ge8
  4. ^ "Mindset Tapping The Hidden Power Behind Every Success". 2023-06-14. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  5. ^ Buchanan, A. (2024). The history of mindset: Honouring lineage, transcending partial stories, making mindset research and practice an interdisciplinary and intergenerational project. doi:10.31234/osf.io/dsb97
  6. ^ "Groupthink". Ethics Unwrapped. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  7. ^ French, R. P., II. (2016). The fuzziness of mindsets: Divergent conceptualizations and characterizations of mindset theory and praxis. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 24(4), 673–691. doi:10.1108/IJOA-09-2014-0797