A Study on the Impact of Growth Mindset on Learning Engagement Among Junior and Senior High School Students: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Metacognition and Shame
Author: Chia-Chi Wang (Department of Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University), Guo-Wei Sun (Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University)
Vol.&No.：Vol. 70, No. 2
Date：June 2025
Pages：235-271
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202506_70(2).0007
Abstract：
Background and Purpose
Maintaining learning engagement during adolescence is essential for long-term academic success. However, embracing challenges is a critical attitude that many domestic students lack. Taiwanese students face significant academic pressure, making it a key issue to help them interpret anxiety and stress during examinations with a positive mindset. This is particularly evident among junior and senior high school students, who are deeply influenced by an exam-oriented educational system. Academic achievement has become a primary criterion for evaluating their self-concept and self-worth (Liu & Lin, 2002).
Although it is difficult to transform Taiwan’s educational landscape in the short term, guiding students to perceive examinations as opportunities for self-challenge and adopting a growth mindset to address the negative emotions associated with academic pressure can alleviate feelings of anxiety and stress. Such an approach can also enhance adolescents’ psychological resilience, enabling them to better cope with future challenges and setbacks (Tang et al., 2015). Therefore, focusing on strategies to strengthen students’ psychological capacity is critical for their long-term development. Nevertheless, previous studies have not adequately explored the potential mediating mechanisms through which a growth mindset influences learning engagement, leaving an important research gap.
In response to this, the present study aims to investigate the impact of a growth mindset on learning engagement among junior and senior high school students, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of metacognition and shame.
Literature Review
C. Dweck explains how individuals perceive intelligence or ability through the lens of implicit theories of intelligence. These theories are categorized into two main types: entity theory and incremental theory. Accordingly, individuals’ mindsets are classified into two categories: fixed mindset and growth mindset. Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence and abilities are static traits that cannot be changed, regardless of effort. Consequently, they tend to avoid challenges and failures, perceive failure as a personal deficiency, and react negatively to evaluations from others. In contrast, individuals with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and abilities can be developed through learning, value effort, view failure as an opportunity for growth, and interpret feedback from others as constructive. They also exhibit greater resilience and adaptability (Dweck, 2006; Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Dweck et al., 1995; Gutumisu, 2019). Studies have demonstrated a significant positive relationship between a growth mindset and students’ learning engagement (Bostwick et al., 2020; Lin-Siegler et al., 2016; Schmidt et al., 2017; Zhao et al., 2021). Specifically, interventions promoting a growth mindset can reshape students’ motivational beliefs, enhance learning engagement (Lin-Siegler et al., 2016), and increase their sense of control, learning interest, and expectations, thereby encouraging sustained engagement in learning (Schmidt et al., 2017). Thus, a growth mindset positively influences learning engagement.
Research has identified metacognition as a critical cognitive ability associated with a growth mindset. Students with a growth mindset are better able to employ metacognitive strategies to monitor their learning processes (Brock & Hundley, 2017). The use of metacognitive strategies is positively correlated with students’ interest, task value, and learning engagement (Sungur, 2007). Students with high levels of metacognition focus more on the learning process, perceiving it as part of strategic execution and outcome evaluation, which increases their willingness to engage in learning (Brock & Hundley, 2017). This underscores the growing importance of metacognition for knowledge integration and accumulation, as well as its role as a key predictor of learning engagement (Wang et al., 2021). Therefore, this study hypothesizes that metacognition mediates the relationship between a growth mindset and learning engagement.
Furthermore, previous studies have found that individuals with different mindsets respond differently to setbacks and failures. Learners with a growth mindset tend to set “learning goals,” prioritizing the learning process and mastery (McWhaw & Abrami , 2001). In contrast, those with a fixed mindset often set “performance goals,” focusing on demonstrating ability or gaining recognition while remaining skeptical of the power of learning and the potential for personal change. They are overly concerned with others’ evaluations, ruminate on problems and setbacks, and are more likely to attribute failure to a lack of ability, leading to helpless reactions, such as feelings of shame (Brock & Hundley, 2017; Dweck, 2006; Tang et al., 2015; Whittington et al., 2017). Research has shown that a growth mindset can predict levels of learning engagement, and learners’ emotional experiences in educational settings, particularly negative emotions, significantly influence their engagement (Reschly et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2022). Derakhshan et al. (2022) noted that negative emotions, such as boredom, mediate the relationship between a growth mindset and learning engagement. However, studies examining the mediating role of shame remain scarce. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether a growth mindset indirectly influences students’ learning engagement through the mediating role of shame.
Method
A total of 1,167 students participated in the study and completed several measures, including the “Mindset Scale,” “Metacognitive Scale,” “Shame Scale,” and “Learning Engagement Scale.” The data analysis process consisted of two parts: instrument reliability and validity testing, and model validation. For instrument reliability and validity, the analysis primarily involved the use of the Multidimensional Item Response Model (MPCM) to assess model-data fit, Differential Item Functioning (DIF), and respondent separation reliability. The analysis was conducted using the software package ConQuest (Wu et al., 2007), with the estimation method being the Expected A Posteriori (EAP) approach. DIF analysis was performed using the equal-mean-difficulty method (EMD). For model validation, the analysis was conducted using the open-source software R (R Core Team, 2022), employing structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model.
Results
The results indicate that students’ growth mindset has a direct positive impact on metacognition, and metacognition has a direct positive impact on learning engagement. Moreover, growth mindset indirectly affects learning engagement through its impact on metacognition. Additionally, students’ growth mindset has a direct negative impact on shame, and shame directly diminishes learning engagement. Furthermore, both metacognition and shame serve as mediators between growth mindset and learning engagement. This study validates the relationship mechanism between growth mindset and learning engagement among junior and senior high students, highlighting its significance in promoting student learning.
Discussion and Suggestion
The results of this study indicate that metacognitive strategies significantly mediate the relationship between growth mindset and learning engagement among secondary school students. Teachers can integrate these strategies into their lessons by helping students understand their learning processes, set goals, and engage in self-monitoring, thereby enhancing learning outcomes. Furthermore, the study emphasizes that psychological motivation in students should focus on malleable mindsets and learning motivations rather than simply boosting self-esteem, as this approach can help students overcome environmental limitations and improve academic performance (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). In reducing feelings of shame, fostering a growth mindset and re-framing learning as practice rather than performance can help students redefine academic challenges and maintain psychological safety, further promoting learning and growth. Schools should create an inclusive learning environment that mitigates the negative impact of shame on learning engagement (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). Additionally, the research suggests that the long-term consistency between school culture, teacher-student relationships, and the messages conveyed during growth mindset interventions is crucial to sustaining their effects. Improving the environmental culture is essential for the lasting enhancement of growth mindset (Fraser, 2018). Finally, growth mindset is closely related to grit, as students with a growth mindset exhibit perseverance in the face of adversity. Future research could further explore the influence of grit and other positive psychological variables on learning (Tuckwiller & Dardick, 2018; Zhao et al., 2021).
Keywords：
Growth mindset, learning engagement, mediating effect, metacognition, shame