Influence of perceived control on persistence : a study on the moderating effect of mindsets

Abstract

This study examined the moderating effect of growth and fixed mindset on the relationship between perceived control and persistence. The participants in this study consisted of 30 university students (age 18-23).The study employed an experimental research design. Their levels of mindset were assessed, then manipulated for perceived control by completing a cognitive task. The participants were presented with a trial that aimed to manipulate the participants’ level of perceived control through the difficulty of the task. The easy task was used to induce high sense of perceived control while the hard task aimed to induce low sense of perceived control. Then, their persistence level was measured by asking them to report their willingness to keep working on the given task and timing how long they worked on the given task. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistic, normality, correlation, and PROCESS for SPSS (Hayes, 2012) Model 1. The results of this study are below. 1. Perceived control was positively related to level of their willingness to work on the task, but no significant relationship was found for the length of time spent on the task; b = .37, p < .05. 2. Growth mindset significantly moderated the relationship between perceived control and persistence level only for their willingness to work on the task, but not for the length of time spent; b = .43, p < .05.