The Journey to Children's Mindsets—and Beyond

My career has been devoted to understanding the nature, workings, and development of children's motivation. Starting with research on motivation in animals, I went on to study the motivational impact of children's attributions, achievement goals, and mindsets about their abilities. I have explored how socialization practices affect these mindsets, as well as how interventions that change children's mindsets can enhance their motivation and learning. I am now developing a broad theory that puts motivation and the formation of mindsets (or beliefs) at the heart of social and personality development. It is hoped that this will attract even more young scholars in developmental psychology to the study of motivation.