Introduction In the realm of education, Dweck and her colleagues have found that students with growth mindsets are more likely to engage in their studies, invest effort, persevere for longer periods through more challenges, be more self-motivated, and achieve greater academic success (Dweck, 2007). However, very little has been done to study the relationship between growth mindset and performance in sport. Instead, much of the research on the construct has dealt with the relationship between growth mindset and other psychological constructs. Our study seeks to address these deficits. Methods The study measured players` own growth mindset beliefs (e.g., reverse score of "I have a certain degree of soccer ability and I cant really do much to change it") and players` perceptions of their teammates`, and coaches` growth mindset beliefs about players` soccer abilities (e.g., reverse score of "My teammates/coaches seem to believe that I have a certain amount of ability and I cant do much to change it") in a sample of over 5,000 elite youth soccer players between the ages of 13 and 19. Given the lack of previous research on the role of growth mindset in sport performance, we used validated measures from education research and adapted them to the context of elite youth soccer. Results We first demonstrated the validity and reliability evidence of the four scales to establish them as legitimate measures of the construct. Descriptive analyses then revealed players` perceptions of their teammates` and coaches` growth mindset are more correlated with key performance outcomes (e.g., goals scored among attackers) than players self-reported growth mindset. Similarly, we found that when players are "unsure" about their coaches` and teammates` growth mindsets, they tend to report lower growth mindset beliefs themselves. We also explored the interactions between player growth mindset and perceptions of coaches` and teammates` growth mindset using linear multiple regression. Attacking players with more of a growth mindset especially benefited from perceiving their coaches and teammates to have a growth mindset about them, as they tended to score more goals than their peers. Interestingly, when attacking players with more of a growth mindset reported that their coaches and teammates did not have a growth mindset about them, they tended to score fewer goals. Discussion Our data highlight the importance of player perceptions of their teammates and coaches, which can provide insight into how we can better support players to succeed in the future. Following these findings, we recommend implementing growth mindset interventions with players and coaches to examine effects on growth mindset beliefs and performance outcomes in future studies. Assessing changes in players` mindsets over time, more proximal performance outcomes, and physiological markers in tandem would propel forward our understanding of psychological factors and their impact on performance.
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