The Mediating Role of Learning Emotions in the Relationship Between Growth Mindset and Learned Helplessness

Information from the abstract

Education increasingly emphasizes not only what students learn but also how they think and feel while learning, as these factors strongly influence persistence and academic success. Many students give up when facing difficulty because they believe their abilities are fixed, leading to patterns of learned helplessness, yet less is known about the emotional processes that explain this link. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of learning emotions in the relationship between growth mindset and learned helplessness among secondary- and university-level students. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, data were collected through a structured Google Forms questionnaire from 378 students and analyzed using correlation, regression, and bootstrapped mediation techniques. The findings reveal a strong positive association between growth mindset and learning emotions (r = .78–.86, p < .001) and a significant negative direct effect of growth mindset on learned helplessness (c′ = −0.253). Learning emotions also showed a strong negative predictive effect on learned helplessness (β = −1.002) and significantly mediated the relationship between growth mindset and learned helplessness. These results indicate that students who believe abilities can grow experience more positive and fewer negative learning emotions, which in turn reduce feelings of helplessness. The study highlights the importance of fostering growth-oriented beliefs and supportive emotional learning environments to promote resilience, motivation, and sustained academic engagement in educational settings.

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Related topics: Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation · Emotional Intelligence and Performance