by Carol S. Dweck (Get the Book)In sharing her years of research on how people's beliefs influence their lives, Dweck (Columbia Univ.) hopes to help people have better lives. She focuses on what she calls "mindsets," the fixed mind-set (i.e., one's abilities are set) versus the growth mind-set (one's abilities are changeable through learning). An individual's mind-set, the author argues, coordinates with his or her beliefs about risk and effort and about the causes of success and failure. Dweck sees the fixed mind-set as typical of people who seek to validate, rather than develop, themselves; the opposite is true of the growth mind-set. In the last chapter, Dweck provides strategies to help the reader change to (and maintain) a growth mind-set. This book is at its core more self-help than scholarly. Drawing examples from education, sports, business, and relationships--and then making connections to the research--Dweck makes psychology accessible to the uninitiated. Those looking for extensive details of the research will not find them here. --Choice
