Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories

People view attributes, including intelligence, through implicit theories, or mindsets, whereby they are seen as unchangeable (entity mindset) or malleable (incremental mindset) (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Previous research examining implicit theories of intelligence in undergraduate students has...

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Main Authors: Carey Dowling, C. Veronica Smith, Yue Yin, Jeffrey M. Williams
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Indiana University Office of Scholarly Publishing 2025-03-01
Series:Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Subjects:
Online Access:http://possum.dlib.indiana.edu:8291/journals-dev/index.php/josotl/article/view/36252
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author Carey Dowling
C. Veronica Smith
Yue Yin
Jeffrey M. Williams
author_facet Carey Dowling
C. Veronica Smith
Yue Yin
Jeffrey M. Williams
author_sort Carey Dowling
collection DOAJ
description People view attributes, including intelligence, through implicit theories, or mindsets, whereby they are seen as unchangeable (entity mindset) or malleable (incremental mindset) (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Previous research examining implicit theories of intelligence in undergraduate students has found mixed results for their ability to predict academic achievement (Sisk et al., 2018). The present studies examined the Academic Beliefs Scale (ABS), a new measure designed to measure implicit theories of academic success in undergraduate students, and its relationship to academic achievement in undergraduate students. In Study 1, the relationships between undergraduate students’ implicit theories of academic success, as measured by the ABS, but not the incremental theory of intelligence, as measured by the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS, Dweck, 1999), and official GPA were statistically mediated by poor study habits, procrastination, and self-handicapping. In Studies 2A and 2B, the psychometric properties of the ABS were found to be satisfactory. Furthermore, the correlations between the entity (negative) and incremental (positive) theories of academic success and GPA were statistically mediated by good academic habits. Future research with undergraduates should continue to examine the merits of the ABS psychometrically and as a predictor of additional academic outcomes in addition to, or in place of, the TIS.
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spelling doaj-art-c76855b016624ffe9bd795cd56ffc3472025-08-20T02:59:00ZengIndiana University Office of Scholarly PublishingJournal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning1527-93162025-03-01251Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit TheoriesCarey Dowling0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1427-0012C. Veronica Smith1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9123-0244Yue Yin2Jeffrey M. Williams3a:1:{s:5:"en_US";s:25:"University of Mississippi";}University of MississippiAllegheny-Singer Research InstituteUniversity of South Florida People view attributes, including intelligence, through implicit theories, or mindsets, whereby they are seen as unchangeable (entity mindset) or malleable (incremental mindset) (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Previous research examining implicit theories of intelligence in undergraduate students has found mixed results for their ability to predict academic achievement (Sisk et al., 2018). The present studies examined the Academic Beliefs Scale (ABS), a new measure designed to measure implicit theories of academic success in undergraduate students, and its relationship to academic achievement in undergraduate students. In Study 1, the relationships between undergraduate students’ implicit theories of academic success, as measured by the ABS, but not the incremental theory of intelligence, as measured by the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS, Dweck, 1999), and official GPA were statistically mediated by poor study habits, procrastination, and self-handicapping. In Studies 2A and 2B, the psychometric properties of the ABS were found to be satisfactory. Furthermore, the correlations between the entity (negative) and incremental (positive) theories of academic success and GPA were statistically mediated by good academic habits. Future research with undergraduates should continue to examine the merits of the ABS psychometrically and as a predictor of additional academic outcomes in addition to, or in place of, the TIS. http://possum.dlib.indiana.edu:8291/journals-dev/index.php/josotl/article/view/36252implicit theories, academic achievement, undergraduates, academic behaviors, Mindset
spellingShingle Carey Dowling
C. Veronica Smith
Yue Yin
Jeffrey M. Williams
Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
implicit theories, academic achievement, undergraduates, academic behaviors, Mindset
title Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories
title_full Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories
title_fullStr Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories
title_full_unstemmed Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories
title_short Moving Beyond Intelligence: Predicting Academic Behaviors and Official GPA in Undergraduate Students with Implicit Theories
title_sort moving beyond intelligence predicting academic behaviors and official gpa in undergraduate students with implicit theories
topic implicit theories, academic achievement, undergraduates, academic behaviors, Mindset
url http://possum.dlib.indiana.edu:8291/journals-dev/index.php/josotl/article/view/36252
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