Mindset and effort during a self-adapted arithmetic task: Variable- and person-oriented approaches

Most of the literature on relation between mindset and effort depends subjective self-reports, which may not reliably capture actual investment effort. In current study we (1) operationalized mental as chosen executed difficulty level in a self-adapted arithmetic task, (2) combined variable-oriented person-oriented analytic approaches, with latter allowing us to explore qualitatively different profiles investment. First-year Dutch high-school students (n = 299; aged 11–14 yrs) chose levels problems 20 rounds. Linear Mixed Modeling (variable-oriented approach) Latent-Profile Analysis (person-oriented were used associations mindset, errors, gender, school achievement (standardized test, math grades) explored. For male students, affected their choices independently while for female only played role when they experienced setback errors. Only males, mediated standardized scores. Additionally, identified five profiles: Avoiders, Exploring challengers, (3) Challengers, (4) Explorers (5) Steady. Two more growth-oriented (2 3), two fixed-oriented (1 5). This adds by demonstrating gender-moderated an objective measure effort, but also important nuances indicated individual differences strategies.