Chapter 3: Implicit Theories of Personality Predict Motivation to Use Prosocial Coping Responses After Bullying in High School

Victimization, exclusion, rejection and bullying in high school are difficult to cope with for any adolescent, yet individual differences in how adolescents interpret these events can predict whether they respond positively or negatively in the face of these challenges.

For example, when adolescents hold more of an entity theory of personality, believing that people like “bullies” or “jerks” are fixed and unchangeable, they seek more vengeful coping strategies. They tend to see the world in terms of “good guys” and “bad guys” and predict that their current status as a victim will continue to last long into the future (Yeager, Trzesniewski, Tirri, Noelkenainen, & Dweck, in press; cf. Chiu, Dweck, Tong & Fu, 1997; Loeb & Dweck, 1994; Rudolph, 2010). But when adolescents hold more of an incremental theory of personality—or a belief in the potential for change—they are more likely to forgive and seek prosocial solutions to social problems because they believe that those efforts will yield positive results (Yeager et al., in press; see also Kammrath & Dweck, 2006, or Rattan & Dweck, 2010, for related research on adults).