Abstract
We test whether growth mindsets are less relevant in non-WEIRD cultures using nationally representative data from PISA 2018 (48 countries, N = 409,287). Students from non-WEIRD countries reported lower growth mindsets (r = -0.47). Multilevel models revealed that the mindset-achievement associations were weaker in non-WEIRD cultures for reading and science, and marginal for math. Our findings suggest that culture-specific factors should be considered when applying the growth mindset framework.
Data availability
PISA data are available at https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/pisa-2018-database.html. Cultural and psychological distance data are available in the original paper15. Country-level covariate data are available at https://data.worldbank.org.
Code availability
Statistical analysis scripts in Mplus and the dataset used for the analysis are available on OSF (https://osf.io/2hf46/overview?view_only=aa9713175a6d40a1a05c1cc5aeb07ec0).
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Acknowledgements
The current research is supported by the Strategic Hiring Scheme awarded to X.S., funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
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Conceptualization: Y.W. and X.S. Methodology: Y.W., X.T., S.W., and X.S. Investigation: Y.W., X.T., S.W., and X.S. Visualization: Y.W. and X.S. Project administration: Y.W. and X.S. Supervision: X.S. Writing—original draft: Y.W. and X.S. Writing—review and editing: Y.W., X.T., S.W., and X.S.
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Wang, Y., Tang, X., Wu, S. et al. Growth mindsets are less endorsed and less associated with academic performance in non-WEIRD cultures. npj Sci. Learn. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00406-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00406-w
