UC Berkeley

Implicit theories of intelligence refer to individuals’ beliefs about the fundamental nature of intelligence. On one end of this spectrum are entity theorists, who believe intelligence is a static entity that cannot be altered. On the other end are incremental theorists, who believe intelligence can be modified through action. An incremental view of intelligence has been linked to adaptive motivational patterns and better academic outcomes. It stands to reason, however, that adaptive motivational patterns will be beneficial only in educational contexts that are supportive and foster growth. Consequently, research assessing educators’ theories about intelligence and how they relate to student outcomes has emerged in recent years. The research presented in this dissertation suggests that students’ perceptions of their instructors’ beliefs about intelligence, and behaviors that relay those perceptions, can be reliably measured and are related to a constellation of student cognitions in the classroom—this includes students’ belief in their intellectual potential, attitude toward academic help-seeking, and sense of efficacy about achieving academically. Help-seeking behavior, however, was unrelated to self-reported help-seeking behavior across three studies. Results consistently showed that when students perceived their instructors to hold a malleable view of intelligence, they perceived the learning environment as less competitive. This finding is potentially relevant for educational contexts plagued by higher levels of competition. Evidence also suggested that these perceptions are related to higher course engagement, lower concerns about negative evaluation, and lower negative feelings like belonging uncertainty and impostor feelings. I begin the dissertation by exploring the lay of the theoretical land and motivating the research topic (Chapter 1). Next, in Chapter 2, I provide preliminary evidence that suggests that students’ perceptions of their instructors’ implicit theories correlate with their attitude toward academic help-seeking and several other sociopsychological outcomes. In Chapter 3, I present evidence that suggests that these theories can be measured as a unidimensional construct in a principled way by describing the development and validation of an instrument designed to measure Perceived implicit Theories of Intelligence (P-TOI). Lastly, in Chapter 4, I report the results of an observational study that links P-TOI with some of the hypothesized variables related to students’ psychological experience in rigorous STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses. I end with a discussion of the theoretical implications and limitations of this work and speculate briefly on future directions.