Cognitive Psychology
A mindset can also be seen as arising out of a person's world view or philosophy of life. In decision theory and general systems theory, a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notions held by one or more people or groups of people.
A mindset may be so firmly established that it creates a powerful incentive within these people or groups to continue to adopt or accept prior behaviors, choices, or tools. The latter phenomenon is also sometimes described as mental inertia, "groupthink", and it is often difficult to counteract its effects upon analysis and decision making processes.
In cognitive psychology, a mindset represents the cognitive processes activated in response to a given task (French, 2016).
Fixed and growth mindset
See also: Self-actualization § Abraham Maslow's concept of self-actualization
According to Carol Dweck, individuals can be placed on a continuum according to their implicit views of "where ability comes from". In particular, an individual's mindset impacts how they face and cope with challenges, such as the transition into junior high school from elementary school or losing your job.
Dweck states that there are two categories (growth mindset versus fixed mindset) that can group individuals based on their behavior, specifically their reaction to failure.
Fixed Mindset
People with a "fixed mindset" believe that abilities are mostly innate and interpret failure as the lack of necessary basic abilities.
In a 2012 interview, Dweck defined both fixed and growth mindsets:
In a fixed mindset, individuals believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. Those with a fixed mindset believe there is no increasing their talents or abilities. They believed they will be born with all the ability they will have. Those with a fixed mindset only enjoy hearing about their success. On they other side, those with a fixed mindset dread failure because they see it as never being able to succeed in the future.
Growth Mindset
According to Dweck, individuals with a "growth" mindset are more likely to continue working hard despite setbacks. Those with a "growth mindset" believe that they can acquire any given ability provided they invest effort or study. Dweck argues that the growth mindset "will allow a person to live a less stressful and more successful life".
In the same 2012 interview Dweck said this about a growth mindset:
In a growth mindset, individuals understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and persistence. They do not necessarily think everyone is the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.
An example of a person with a growth mindset is an employee who, when posed with an extraordinarily challenging assignment, takes the project as a growing opportunity instead of one that will defeat them. Despite whatever lack of success they may have, this individual would appreciate the opportunity to learn from such difficulty and gain knowledge, instead of feeling defeated about any incompleteness or lack of success.
A word that closely relates to a growth mindset is grit. Grit can be defined as the combination of determination and perseverance. Keown and Bourke discussed the importance for those growing up to have not only a growth mindset but also grit. The combination of these two things. In their study they found that those in a lower economic status had a higher chance of success if they had a growth mindset and were willing to work hard through tribulation.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_psychology