Implicit Theories

Individuals develop fundamental assumptions about human attributes to explain and understand their world. These implicit theories incorporate beliefs about the fixedness or malleability of personal attributes such as intelligence, willpower, and personality, and organize the way people ascribe meaning to events. Although implicit beliefs can be held stably, empirical findings show that they can also be primed and changed in brief laboratory experiments or in longer-term interventions. This offers manifold opportunities for shaping individuals' implicit theories in different contexts. For research, this means that implicit theories have a high interdisciplinary appeal.
This volume brings together current research on implicit theories from different psychological subdisciplines that investigates implicit theories in individuals from Asia (Philippines), Australia, Europe (Germany, Norway, Switzerland), and the United States in different domains (education, health, willpower) using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs. The papers provide current research on implicit theories and their effects on attitudes, thoughts or behavior, and report on cross-cultural effects of interventions designed to influence implicit theories.