The mediating effect of growth mindset in the relationship between adolescents’ optimism and grit

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between optimism, growth mindset, and grit among adolescents. In particular, we explored the mediating effect of growth mindset on the relationship between optimism and grit. Based on a cross-sectional study, participants were 647 Korean adolescents from age 12 to 16 years (M = 14.3 years). The main findings were as follows. First, adolescents’ optimism significantly predicted grit. Second, growth mindset significantly predicted grit. Finally, growth mindset partially and significantly mediated the relationship between optimism and grit. Additionally, we analyzed the two components of grit, consistency of interest and perseverance of effort, respectively. The results showed that growth mindset partially mediated the association between optimism and perseverance of effort, while consistency of interest did not. The empirical findings in this study provided a psychological mechanism on the path from optimism to grit by demonstrating the mediating effect of growth mindset. To our knowledge, this study is the first empirical study to investigate the mediating effect of growth mindset on the relationship between optimism and grit in Korean adolescents.