Mind-Set

Types of Mind-Sets

A first pair of mind-sets is promotion and prevention focus. A promotion-focus mind-set focuses individuals on nurturance goals and the attainment of ideals. Individuals in a promotion-focus mind-set are often sensitive to the acquisition of gains and rewards. In contrast, a prevention-focus mind-set focuses individuals on security goals, duties, and obligations. Individuals in a prevention-focus mind-set are more sensitive to losses and punishments. Chronic and situational differences in promotion- versus prevention-focus mind-sets can affect a variety of behaviors such as motivation, task performance, and response to persuasive messages. For example, with respect to motivation, promotion-focused individuals are more motivated by goals framed as ideals or gains, whereas prevention-focused individuals are motivated by goals framed as obligations or avoiding losses.

Researchers have also explored mind-sets related to experiential versus rational modes of processing. An experiential mind-set prompts a focus on feelings and intuition; its processes are associative in nature and operate quickly and spontaneously. A rational mind-set is deliberative in nature and engages the use of reason-based mental operations, which tend to be more effortful and thus slower. These mind-sets appear to have far reaching implications for how people respond to different types of information and how they behave in a variety of decision-making contexts. For example, individuals often arrive at different answers for problems related to probability or reasoning, depending on whether they are in an experiential or rational mind-set.

A final pair of mind-sets that has received considerable attention is growth versus fixed [Page 1419]mind-sets. Individuals with a growth mind-set believe that abilities can be developed and improved over time, and they are thus oriented toward learning and mastery goals. On the other hand, those with a fixed mind-set believe that people are born with their abilities, leading to a focus on performance goals and the desire to receive positive evaluations of their abilities. As with other mind-sets, these mind-sets affect a variety of behaviors related to task performance and preferences. For example, with respect to task performance, individuals with a growth mind-set may work harder given their beliefs that success is more the result of effort than of innate abilities.

These three types of mind-sets are but some examples of the mind-sets that have been studied. Other mind-sets include power and powerlessness, abstract and concrete, and deliberative and implemental. In addition, although some types of mind-sets operate on a continuum that implies trade-offs (e.g., power and powerlessness, abstract and concrete), others are conceptualized as being orthogonal and might occur simultaneously (e.g., promotion and prevention focus).

...