Implicit theories of intelligence: A matter of perspectives?

Introduction. - Implicit theories of intelligence are beliefs that people form regarding the malleability of intelligence. The so-called "growth" and "fixed" mindsets respectively view intelligence as a characteristic that can or cannot be changed. Psychology, as a science, also offers diverging responses. The developmental and differential traditions in the study of intelligence merely provide different answers because they do not focus on the same sources of variability nor on the same dimensions of intelligence. Objectives. - The research question that guided the present studies was: Are people's naive theories influenced by the same factors that drive developmental and differential psychologists to different conclusions? Method. - In Study 1, we first assessed participants' (n = 509) reference norm orientation (i.e. whether they tend to focus on individual or social comparison), using a task in which they had to predict the school results of an hypothetical child. Then we administered a French version of Dweck's (2007) mindset scale. In study 2, we first asked participants (n = 530) to choose between two definitions of intelligence focusing either on its fluid or crystalized dimensions. Then we administered the French Mindset Scale and asked participants to justify their conclusion. Results. - Both variables of interest (reference norm orientation and preferred definition of intelligence) had a significant effect on the participant's incremental beliefs. Conclusion. - The results of the two studies as well as the qualitative analysis of participants' arguments suggest that mindsets, like scientific theories, partly stem from the fact that the same question regarding intelligence malleability can be approached with two different perspectives.