Yale-NUS researchers find that your beliefs may be preventing you from pursuing your dreams
Yale-NUS researchers share findings that people’s beliefs about whether opportunities can be changed influences their success at valued life goals
Associate Professor of Social Sciences (Psychology) Paul A. O’Keefe and Senior Research Fellow E. J. Horberg. Photos provided by Assoc Prof O’Keefe and Dr Horberg.
In an age of rapid, global change, many people will face diminished opportunities during their lifetimes, whether due to structural inequalities—injustices that must be rectified—or to upheavals like the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasing trends toward automation and artificial intelligence that will render common occupations obsolete. Together with colleagues from Stanford University, Yale-NUS Associate Professor of Social Sciences (Psychology) Paul A. O’Keefe and Yale-NUS Senior Research Fellow Dr E. J. Horberg found that how someone responds in the face of such obstacles, and whether they achieve their goals, may partly depend on their beliefs about the nature of opportunities.
Assoc Prof O’Keefe is the lead author for the studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The research examined how “fixed” and “growth” mindsets about opportunities influence the strategies people use to pursue their goals and their success in doing so. People with a fixed mindset tend to see opportunities in life as relatively set and unchangeable whereas people with a growth mindset tend to view opportunities as changeable. According to Assoc Prof O’Keefe, these mindsets have important implications for the pursuit of valued life goals, like educational, entrepreneurial, and career aspirations, especially when good opportunities to pursue those goals do not readily exist.
When opportunities seem unavailable, people with a stronger fixed mindset tend to approach their goals more passively, feeling limited by their perception that their opportunities cannot change. Their strategies rely more on wishful thinking, hoping for a big break, or for the universe to align with their wishes. They also give up more readily. Yet under similar conditions, people with a stronger growth mindset use more active strategies. These include strategies like hard work, planning, and persistence. They reason that, if opportunities can be changed, then new ones can be actively cultivated using these strategies. As a result, they might still expect success in the long-term.
In a field study revealing the importance of a growth mindset of opportunity for real-world, long-term goals, the team tracked a group of unemployed adults as they sought to secure employment over nearly half a year. Those with a stronger growth mindset at the start of the study began their job-search more quickly and cultivated more opportunities to gain employment during their job-search, such as using employment agencies, networking with friends, family, and former colleagues, and submitting resumes. Most importantly, five months later, people with a stronger growth mindset were more likely to have secured a new job.
Given these findings, a growth mindset of opportunity may help people navigate the impending significant changes in the job market. Dr Horberg noted that “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation could soon wipe out common occupations, from truck drivers to cooks to research analysts. By motivating people to cultivate new opportunities, a growth mindset may help them secure employment in different or new industries. This will be critical in places like Singapore, the United States, and elsewhere where businesses increasingly rely on AI and automation.”
At its heart, Assoc Prof O’Keefe pointed out, a growth mindset of opportunity is an ‘entrepreneurial mindset.’ “It is a focus on the process of how to achieve one’s goals, given where one is starting, and how to overcome hurdles as they are encountered. This is how challenging, long-term goals get achieved.”
However, Assoc Prof O’Keefe was also quick to emphasise that a growth mindset of opportunity should always be accompanied by the recognition of structural inequalities. “Cultivating new opportunities is met with more barriers for some people than for others through no fault of their own.” He added, “Our hope is that a growth mindset of opportunity can benefit all, and will help those facing inequities circumvent at least some barriers to their success, while not placing blame on those who don’t.”
