Honors College Theses

Publication Date

2026

Major

Psychology (B.S.)

Release Option

Open Access

Faculty Mentor

Virginia Wickline

Abstract

Individual and situational factors such as mindset and mood can shape performance on creative problem solving tasks. This study examined the potential effects of mindset (growth vs. fixed) and mood (positive, neutral, negative) on performance. Performance was measured using a shortened 60-item version of the Compound Remote Associates Task (CRAT; Bowden & Jung- Beeman, 2003). 92 undergraduate students completed self report measures of mindset (ITIS; Dweck, 1999) and self-efficacy (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995). Participants were randomly assigned to a video-based mood induction condition and completed a self-reported mood survey (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988). Manipulation checks confirmed the effectiveness of the mood induction. It was hypothesized that participants in the positive mood would outperform those in the negative and neutral moods. Additionally, it was hypothesized that growth mindset participants would perform better on the CRAT than fixed mindset participants. Lastly, growth mindset participants in a positive mood were expected to yield the highest performance. Contrary to hypotheses, participants in the negative and neutral mood conditions outperformed those in the positive condition. Mindset was not significantly related to performance; however, exploratory analysis indicated slightly higher performance among fixed mindset participants. Due to the lack of relation with mindset and performance, an interaction analysis was not possible. These findings highlight the context dependent influences of mood and mindset on performance. Future research should investigate how task demands, motivation, and self-efficacy interact with mood and mindset to shape performance.

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