Implicit beliefs regarding whether people’s personal characteristics attributes (e.g. intellectual ability, personality, moral character, and shyness) are changeable (the malleable mindset) or static (the fixed mindset) are shown to be related to a lot of important outcomes, including better academic achievement, higher level of resilience, more efficient self-regulation, and less negative reaction to social exclusion. However, most previous studies about implicit theory were about adolescents and young adults. Only very few studies have tested the effect of implicit theory in older adults. Older adults frequently encounter major or minor changes in their lives, such as retirement, loss of loved ones, or change of residence. Believing that one’s intelligence is malleable after putting in effort may lead older adults to be more willing to try relatively novel and difficult tasks in life, and be more resilient when facing adversities. To test the important role of implicit theory in later adulthood, the current study recruited 112 older adults aged 60 to 92 years old and measured their implicit theory of intelligence, resilience, and cognitive difficulty in everyday tasks by questionnaires. Results revealed that malleable mindset was significantly related to higher level of resilience and less difficulty in everyday cognition. Furthermore, resilience fully mediated the beneficial effect of malleable mindset on everyday cognition. The findings support that implicit mindset is important for older adults’ well-being. More studies can be conducted to thoroughly investigate the benefits of holding a malleable mindset in later adulthood.
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