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A SERIAL MEDIATION ANALYSIS TESTING FIXED INTELLIGENCE MINDSET, SELF-DOWNING AND SELF-ESTEEM AS PREDICTORS OF STUDENTSВ’ NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AFTER FAILURE
Abstract
There is a growing body of literature evidencing the link between students’ fixed intelligence mindset and different mental health indicators (i.e., negative emotions) [1] however, little is known about the nature of this relationship. Dweck’s theory emphasizes that mindsets exert their greatest effect on behavior and emotions when self-threat is imminent [2], suggesting that self-evaluations might also be implicated in conveying mindsets’ effect. Thus, the present study (N = 276) proposed to investigate two self-evaluative processes (i.e., self-downing – evaluating oneself globally and negatively due to failure – and self-esteem) as potential mediators between fixed intelligence mindsets and negative emotions reported after recalling a recent academic failure. Serial mediation analysis using structural equation modeling yielded two significant indirect paths, one involving both self-downing and self-esteem in a causal chain, and the other involving only self-esteem as a mediator. Fixed intelligence mindset was positively associated with self-downing, while self-downing was negatively associated with self-esteem. Higher self-esteem predicted lower levels of negative emotions. These results indicate that students who believe that their intelligence cannot be improved after experiencing an academic failure tended to engage in self-downing following failure and made more negative global self-evaluations, which in turn, led to higher levels of negative emotions. The present results underscore the crucial role of self-evaluations in mediating fixed intelligence mindsets’ effect on negative emotions and they also suggest potential avenues for prevention and intervention to enhance students’ mental health.
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