Scientific Studies Indicate Intelligence can be Developed, so take it easy!

New York, July 24: If you think you can’t do anything about your intelligence as this is something that can’t be changed, check your stress levels as this may harm your studies. According to the scientists, students’ mindset about intelligence that whether it is a fixed trait or can be developed is associated with the likelihood of overcoming the stressful transition into high school, particularly if their grades begin to drop.

The study showed that bad grades did not indicate a higher stress response for everyone instead indicated greater responses in students who had more of a fixed mindset — the idea that people’s intelligence is fixed and cannot change. The authors suggested that students with changeable mindset may proactively solve their problems, for instance by talking with teachers or improving their skills, thereby allowing them to cope more effectively the next day.

“Declining grades may get ‘under the skin,’ as it were, for first-year high school students who believe intelligence is a fixed trait,” said lead author Hae Yeon Lee from University of Texas at Austin in the US. “But believing, instead, that intelligence can be developed — or having what is called a growth mindset— may buffer the effects of academic stress,” Lee added. (IANS)