The role of growth mindset and symbol of shared event representation in the promotion of challenge-pursuit

Abstract

Challenges are rigorous opportunities to grow and learn. Yet many students underutilize these opportunities. This study investigated how the growth mindset and priming of a shared-event representation might independently affect students’ tendency to challenge-pursuit. In a school-wide intervention, a long-distance running program (POMA Run) that embodies the concept and shared experiences of “ascend beyond current self” was created. In our study, students were randomly selected, then randomly assigned to one of the two event representation conditions: (1) think about the POMA Run (prime condition) or (2) think about a neutral target (control condition). Afterwards, to measure their willingness to extend one's limit, they were presented with four school-life situations and asked to indicate their intention to engage in activities of varying levels of difficulty described in each situation. Next, they ideographically categorized the activities into those that fell in the comfort zone (within their current capacity), stretch zone (beyond current capacity, challenging but attainable), or panic zone (far beyond current capacity). Challenge-pursuit was defined as the intention to engage in the activities categorized in the stretch zone. In the control condition, students with a stronger (weaker) endorsement of growth mindset reported higher (lower) challenge-pursuit intention. The effect of event representation prime on promoting challenge-pursuit intentions was significant among students with a weaker growth mindset: their challenge-pursuit intention was stronger in the prime condition than the control condition. In contrast, students in the prime condition displayed equally strong challenge-pursuit intention regardless of their level of growth-mindset endorsement. The effectiveness of forming a shared-event representation will be discussed.

Keywords

growth mindset challenge stretch zone shared event representation

Teachers and parents often express disappointment in students’ lack of willingness to “get out of the comfort zone” in studying as well as their engagement in co-curricular activities. Students who enjoy learning a new skill at the beginning sometimes give up or avoid challenging themselves with increasingly difficult tasks. A recent study of 9th graders in the United States and Norway showed that when offered a hypothetical choice between two kinds of extra-credit math assignments—one with math problems that were challenging but would promote learning, and the other with problems that could be easily done without much thinking—only 37% of American students and 59% of Norwegian students chose the challenging assignment (Rege et al., 2021; Yeager et al., 2019).

The present research investigates two pathways that promote the willingness to pursue challenges: (1) students’ endorsement of a growth mindset, and (2) formation of a shared representation of challenge-pursuit events. Growth mindset, defined as the belief in the malleability of abilities, has been found to be related to the motivation to extend one's current level of skill and ability. In the aforementioned study of American and Norwegian students, half of the participants were randomly assigned to go through a growth-mindset intervention. The remaining half was assigned to the no-intervention control condition. The proportion of students choosing the hard assignment was significantly higher in the intervention group (49% in USA and 68% in Norway) than in the control group (37% in USA and 59% in Norway; Rege et al., 2021; Yeager et al., 2019).

In this article, the second pathway leverages on the motivation effect of shared-event representation activation. When the behavioral script of self-transcendence is embedded in a shared-event representation, activation of the representation will increase the likelihood of following the script and engaging in activities outside the comfort zone. Because the primed event representation is directly linked to the action frames in the self-transcendence script, activation of the representation could affect the target behavior directly without the mediation of growth mindset.

This article aims to address the following questions: Is growth-mindset endorsement related to the willingness to pursue challenges? Is the activation of a shared-event representation an effective way to promote challenge-pursuit? How do these two pathways interact to influence students’ challenge-pursuit intention?

Advancement through stretch zone

A challenge is “something new and difficult; it requires great effort and determination” (Collins Dictionary, n.d.). Challenges appear in many forms and shapes, like taking on harder math problems, trying to beat a personal best record in swimming, and talking to a new teacher in school. Completion of a challenging activity requires skills or abilities that one has not acquired yet and involves significant risks of failure. Taking a challenge demands the engagement in stretch-zone tasks in the “comfort-stretch-panic” zone model. Although the “comfort-stretch-panic” zone model is widely known in popular culture, its origin remains unclear (Palethorpe & Wilson, 2011).

Comfort-zone tasks are those that are within the reach of one's current capability, hence “comfortable” to perform. An individual can complete this task without difficulty and psychological distress. The engagement of activities in this zone provides a sense of accomplishment, but does not provide meaningful learning opportunity.

Stretch-zone tasks are difficult and challenging for the current level of ability, but can be mastered with the help and guidance of others (e.g., scaffolding created by teachers) or with some meaningful struggles (e.g., learning new strategies). In other words, it is located at the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). Although one needs to struggle to finish these tasks, upon the mastery of the task, one's capability grows and one is able to do the task on their own. The stretch-zone tasks allow the highest growth opportunity because growth requires the extension of one's existing capability.

Panic-zone tasks are those that far exceed one's current ability to handle effectively. These tasks are associated with a high probability of failure and emotional distress (e.g., anxiety, fear, and self-doubt). Forcing one to attempt tasks in this zone might create adverse effects. In sum, stretch-zone tasks are conducive to growth and advancement, while comfort-zone and panic-zone tasks are not.

Growth mindset and challenges

A growth mindset is the belief that human capacities can grow over time, while a fixed mindset is the belief that human capacities are innate capacities that cannot be changed (Dweck, 1999; Dweck & Yeager, 2019). These beliefs, being axioms in one's meaning system, organize one's goals, attributions, and behaviors (Hong et al., 1999; Molden & Dweck, 2006). Specifically, students holding a growth mindset believe that their ability can increase, and therefore tend to view setbacks as “success in the making” or the resulting using inadequate methods. Consequently, they display resilience in their coping (Aditomo, 2015; Hong et al., 1999). In contrast, students holding a fixed mindset aim to document their high ability because accepting that one has unalterable ineptitude is psychologically devasting. Because they tend to see setbacks as indicators of low ability, they often give up when frustrated while pursuing challenging tasks.

Growth-mindset intervention has successfully increased students’ motivation to take on difficult and challenging math tasks (Rege et al., 2021; Yeager et al., 2019). This is because growth-mindset messages frame the meaning of challenges positively as meaningful opportunities to grow one's intellectual abilities (Hong et al., 1999; Molden & Dweck, 2006) instead of negatively as potential threats to their sense of ability. Students endorsing a growth mindset tend to focus more on learning (even in face of possible failures) than on demonstrating a high ability by choosing easy tasks (Blackwell et al., 2007).

Although stretch-zone tasks confer growth opportunities, it might not be the preferred task choice for some students. Although venturing into the stretch zone comes with the possibility of succeeding and gaining new ability and a sense of achievement, it also comes with the risk of failure, ending up in disappointment and self-confidence loss. Students holding a fixed mindset are particularly averse to academic risk-taking because they tend to attribute academic setbacks to their low ability (e.g., “I am not smart at math”), which is devasting given their belief in fixed ability. Hence they prioritize proving (rather than improving) their ability, and react to challenges with negative emotions (Schroder et al., 2017).

In contrast, students holding a growth mindset tend to focus on improving their ability. They are more likely to view academic setbacks as information about the learning process (e.g., “I might have used the wrong strategy”). They prioritize improving (rather than proving) their ability. In other words, having a growth mindset makes attempting challenging tasks feel psychologically less scary and practically more attainable.

Moreover, since peak performance happens when people experience a moderate amount of pressure (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908), students holding a growth mindset are less performance-oriented (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Hence, they are less likely to experience excessive pressure while performing stretch-zone tasks. In short, there is a fair amount of evidence supporting the idea that growth mindset can increase the willingness to pursue challenges. Therefore, we predicted that students with a stronger (weaker) growth mindset would have stronger (weaker) challenge-pursuit intention.

Event representation priming

Challenge pursuit intention can also be strengthened by forming and activating a shared-event representation that embeds the theme of self-transcendence. An event representation “allows individuals to picture a state of affairs or an event in a specific situation and how it transforms into another state or event” (Chiu & Hong, 2006, p. 159). The event representation embodies a script. Once this script is activated, people will follow the script and perform the scripted behaviors (Wyer, 2004).

The phenomenon of a culture of honor illustrates how a shared script—a shared-event representation—affects behaviors. Caucasian American men in the American South are thrice as likely as their counterparts in the North to commit honor-related homicide (Cohen, 1998; Cohen & Nisbett, 1997; Nisbett, 1993). Occurrences of honor-related violence typically adhere to the following script, which contains these frames (Chiu & Hong, 2006): (1) encountering negative remarks about oneself or one’s family; (2) interpreting the remark as an attack on one’s honor; (3) feeling enraged and the need to retaliate; (4) seeking submission from the perpetrator as a means to restore honor through the use of (or the threat to use) violence; (5) seeing the violent acts as a justified and honorable way to defend one's honor; and (6) feeling proud for protecting against attacks on one’s honor. These action frames direct one's appraisal and responses to honor-related situations, leading to a higher rate of conflict-related homicides. A caption or header (e.g., “protect one's honor”) is attached to the script to capture the gist of the event sequence. The entire shared-event representation will be activated and used to guide behaviors when the header is rendered salient and the representation is perceived to be a relevant interpretive tool in the current situation.

Positive education through the formation of a shared event representation

A secondary school in Hong Kong has launched an initiative to strengthen its self-transcendence school culture. This initiative afforded an opportunity to test the effect of a new approach to positive education intervention by forming a shared-event representation that embedded the meme of self-transcendence. Specifically, the school has launched the POMA Run, a distance-running training program named after the acronym of the school, to promote “going out of your comfort zone” among students and staff. The POMA Run slogan, “ascend beyond current self,” was introduced in the first year, and evolved into “ascend beyond current self, embrace challenge” in the following year.

Collective memories of the POMA Run activities and its self-transcendence meme were created through and embedded in a series of activities in a school-wide program. First, all students in the school learned the concepts behind the POMA Run—growth mindset, use of effective learning strategy, leaping out of comfort zone, and taking on challenge—in school commencement, assemblies, and home-room activities. Next, all students and staff were encouraged to join the weekly distance-run training. To create effective advancement in students’ running performance, a running coach was hired to provide professional feedback to students’ breathing and running techniques. Debriefing was held at the end of each session to reinforce the key elements the self- transcendence goal. At every debriefing session, a few students and teachers volunteered to share their experience of improvement and discuss factors leading to their breakthroughs. Many students and teachers reported beating their personal best time after the training and attributed the success to persistence in training and improvement in knowledge and skill about distance running.

Finally, to crystallize the collective memories into a shared-event representation, a POMA Run logo was designed by a student and a teacher. It took the form of a leaping horse, representing leaping out of the comfort zone. The logo was visibly displayed in multiple spots in campus, such as the gym, notice boards in hallways, and banners in open areas. It appeared in specially designed cultural artifacts too. Students and staff who had participated for at least six sessions received a POMA Run tee with the horse logo. Quickly the POMA Run logo had become a shared symbol of the POMA Run events and its meme in the school.

Through these deliberate efforts, students formed a common, shared-event representation of the POMA Run, and the name “POMA Run” became the header of the self-transcendence action frames. According to theories on knowledge structure and spread of activation (Higgins, 1996), reminding students of the POMA Run by presenting to them the POMA Run logo would bring challenge-pursuit action frames to the top of the mind and increase challenge-pursuit intentions. This shared-event representation of the POMA Run embodied a script of self-transcendence that contained the following frames: (1) in face of a challenge, embrace instead of walk away from it; (2) use suitable strategies and put in effective efforts; (3) constantly gather accurate feedback; (4) be persistent until result is shown. Once this script is activated, the likelihood of engaging in activities outside the comfort zone would increase.

Overview of the study

This study aimed to investigate the effect of growth mindset and priming of shared-event representation on students’ intention to pursuit challenge. Student participants were randomly selected from a pool of students in a school, and were randomly assigned into the prime or the control condition (between-participants). Participants in the prime condition were asked to “describe the POMA Run with one adjective,” while those in the control condition were asked to describe a concept unrelated to self-transcendence. All participants then completed a measure of challenge-pursuit intention, operationalized as the extent to which they chose to engage in tasks in four different challenging situations (e.g., drama competition, hiking) they personally considered to be reasonably demanding (stretch-zone tasks). If the POMA Run was associated with the self-transcendence script, the POMA Run-primed participants would show stronger challenge-pursuit intention. The level of growth-mindset endorsement of participants was measured in a separate session.

The results of the study would answer these questions: (1) Is personal growth-mindset endorsement related to challenge-pursuit tendency? (2) Is the activation of a shared-event representation an effective way to promote challenge-pursuit? (3) How did shared-event representation and personal endorsement of growth mindset influence challenge pursuit intention?

Method

Participants

Participants were 181 students from Form 1, 2, 4, or 5 (roughly corresponded to Grade 7, 8, 10, or 11). They were randomly selected to participate in the study. Data from nine participants were excluded because these participants did not complete the survey, leaving usable N = 172 (60.5% female, age: M = 14.19 years, SD = 1.75, range = 12–18 years).

Growth mindset of intelligence

Growth mindset was measured when the participants responded to a battery of questionaries administered around three months prior to this study. Three items were adopted from Dweck (1999). The items were “you can substantially change how intelligent you are”; “no matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit”; and “you can change even your basic intelligence level.” The participants responded to each item using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). The internal reliability of the measure was high (α = .86).

POMA run priming

Participants were randomly assigned to the prime (N = 87) or control (N = 85) condition. At the beginning of the experimental session, those in the prime condition were induced to think about the POMA Run; they were asked to “describe the POMA Run with one adjective.” After answering this question, they proceeded to the challenge-pursuit measure. Participants in the control condition were asked to “describe a class outing with one adjective” before completing the challenge-pursuit measure. In Hong Kong, class outings are an annual activity in school. The whole class would visit a place outside the school for social purpose. Common locations include amusement parks and country parks. Hence thinking about a class outing should activate memories related to having fun and enhancement of peer relationships, which were unrelated to challenge-pursuit.

At the end of the experimental session, participants in the prime condition were asked to “describe a class outing with one adjective,” whereas those in the control condition were asked to “describe the POMA Run with one adjective” after the challenge-pursuit measure.

Dependent measures

Challenge-pursuit index

Engagement intention. Having described the POMA Run or class outing depending on their condition, all participants were presented with four school-related challenging situations (e.g., played a role in an inter-school drama competition, offered a formal apology to the school principal). In each situation, several activities of increasing difficulty levels were presented, and the participants were asked to indicate whether they would engage in each of them (“yes” or “no”). For example, in the drama competition scenario, participants were asked whether they would participate in the drama if the role was (1) a passer-by with no dialogue, (2) a minor supporting role with a few lines of dialogue, (3) a major supporting role with substantial appearance, or (4) the protagonist in the drama. There were altogether 17 items, with 4–5 items in each situation. See Appendix A for a sample situation.

Zone categorization. Next, participants read a brief description of the comfort-stretch-panic zone model. This model had previously been taught to all students as a part of the school's positive education curriculum. Therefore, all participants were familiar with it. Next, they read the 4 situations and the 17 items again. For each item they answered the following question: “To you personally, to which zone does this item belong?” They responded by circling “comfort zone,” “stretch zone,” or “panic zone.” This idiographic categorization method allowed the participants to characterize the difficulty level of each activity relative to their assessment of their current levels of skills and abilities.

A challenge-pursuit was defined as the intention to engage in an activity categorized by the participants themselves as one in their stretch zone. For each participant, we counted the number of challenge pursuits he/she intended to engage in. Next, we divided this number by the total number of items (17) in the measure to yield the challenge-pursuit index—the proportion of “stretch-zone” activities selected by the participant.

Difficulty score

Participants might choose fewer (more) activities if they perceived them to be difficult (easy) generally. Participants differed in how difficult they perceived the 17 activities in our measures. To control for these individual differences, we also measured the perceived difficulty of these activities. Specifically, for each participant, we computed a perceived difficulty score. An item that was categorized as an activity in the comfort zone (a considered easy activity) received a score of “1,” one that categorized as an activity in the stretch zone (a reasonably challenging activity) received a score of “2,” and one that was categorized as an activity in the panic zone (an unmanageable activity) received a score of “3.” Next, we standardized the difficulty ratings of each of the 17 items across participants. For each participant, we used the mean of the standardized scores (z-scores) of their 17 items to form the perceived difficulty score. A positive (negative) value indicated that, in general, the participant, compared to other participants, perceived the task to be more (less) difficult.

Analysis

The data were analyzed using multilevel modeling with fixed-slope models. The data of situations in the survey (level 1) are nested by the participant (level 2). Some dependent variables were proportions (ranged from 0 to 1) that did not fit a normal distribution. To model dependent measures with over-dispersed distribution, we fitted binomial regression models to them. Mean-centered growth mindset was treated as a continuous predictor in the model. The glmer package in R was used in the analyses.

Our data analysis plan was as follows. First, we tested the effect of prime, growth mindset, and their interaction on perceived difficulty in regression analysis. Next, we tested the effect of the same independent variables on the challenge-pursuit index. If the relationship between perceived difficulty and any of the independent variable was found in the first analysis, perceived difficulty would be added as a control variable in the second analysis. This analysis tested the effect of prime and growth mindset on challenge-pursuit controlling for the effect of perceived difficulty.

Results

Preliminary analysis

An activity was more likely to be classified as one in the comfort zone (40%) or the stretch zone (38%) than one in the panic zone (22%). As shown in Table 1, participants were more likely to partake (vs. not partake) in a comfort-zone activity (35% vs 5%, χ² = 671.88, p < 0.001) or stretch-zone activity (31% vs 7%, χ² = 436.41, p < 0.001). They were less likely to partake (vs. not partake) in a panic-zone activity (9% vs 13%, χ² = 53.19, p < 0.001).

Table 1.
Distribution of engagement of the activities self-categorized by participants as belonging activities in different zones

Engagement intention of activity

Zone Yes No Total

Comfort 1029 (35%) 142 (5%) 1171 (40%)

Stretch 903 (31%) 207 (7%) 1110 (38%)

Panic 206 (9%) 383 (13%) 643 (22%)

Total 2192 (75%) 732 (25%) 2924 (100%)

Note. Total number of items classified (N = 172 participants x 17 items) = 2924.

Growth mindset predicted how likely participants would classify an activity as a challenging one. We conducted a binormal multilevel regressions with growth mindset as the predictor separately on the proportion of items categorized as activities in the comfort, stretch, and panic zones. The growth mindset was not associated with the likelihood that an activity was classified as one in the comfort zone or the panic zone (comfort zone: B = −0.03, SE = 0.06, z = −0.46, p = .65; panic zone: B = −0.11, SE = 0.07, z = −1.62, p = .11). In contrast, having a growth mindset was positively associated with the tendency to classify an activity as a stretch-zone activity (B = 0.11, SE = 0.06, t = 1.99, p = .05).

The strength of growth mindset also predicted the number of activities that participants had chosen to engage in. The effect of growth mindset on the percentage of activities (out of 17) that the participants intended to partake in in the binormal multilevel regression was significant (B = 0.32, SE = 0.07, z = 4.37, p < .001). Participants with a stronger growth mindset tended to partake in more activities.

Effect of growth mindset and prime on difficulty perception

The level of growth-mindset endorsement did not differ across the priming conditions (prime: M = 3.34, SD = 1.09; control: M = 3.34, SD = 0.95; t = −0.02, p = .98). This result showed that the random assignment of participants to the two experimental condition was successful. Growth-mindset endorsement and priming were statistically independent predictors of the outcome variables.

The first outcome variable was how challenging the activities were perceived to be. We performed a multilevel regression analysis on the effect of growth mindset, prime, and their interaction on perceived difficulty score. The main effect of prime was significant (B = −0.17, SE = 0.07, t = −2.54, p = .01). No other effects reached significance (growth mindset: B = −0.02, SE = 0.05, t = −0.43, p = .67; interaction: B = 0.009, SE = 0.07, t = 0.14, p = .89). Participants induced to think about the POMA Run (vs. class outing) perceived the activities to be more difficult.

Effect of growth mindset and prime on challenge-pursuit

Next, we tested the effects of growth mindset, prime, and their interaction on the likelihood of pursuing stretch-zone activities. The perceived difficulty score was positively related to the challenge-pursuit index (B = 0.36, SE = 0.07, z = 5.37, p < .001). Participants who perceived the activities to be more difficult were more likely to pursue stretch-zone activities. Therefore, in the binormal multilevel regression analysis we performed on the challenge-pursuit index, we controlled for the effect of perceived difficulty.

There was a significant main effect of growth mindset (B = 0.45, SE = 0.10, z = 4.56, p < .001), which was qualified by a significant interaction (B = −0.44, SE = 0.13, z = −3.40, p < .001). The main effect of prime was not significant (B = 0.004, SE = 0.13, z = 0.30, p = .97). The interaction plot is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1.
Effect of growth mindset and prime condition on participants’ challenge-pursuit index.

Follow-up simple slope analysis revealed that in the control condition, challenge-pursuit was related to the endorsement of growth mindset: students with higher growth-mindset endorsement had a greater challenge-pursuit tendency (B = 0.45, SE = 0.10, t = 4.56, p < .001). In the prime condition, growth-mindset endorsement did not predict challenge-pursuit (B = 0.01, SE = 0.08, t = 0.12, p = .91).

Additional simple slope analysis found that students with lower growth-mindset endorsement reported a significantly higher level of challenge-pursuit in the prime than the control condition (B = 0.44, SE = 0.18, t = 2.41, p = .02). Students with higher growth-mindset endorsement showed lower challenge-pursuit in the prime than control condition (B = −0.43, SE = 0.18, t = −2.46, p = .01). This finding, together with the nonsignificant effect of growth mindset in the prime condition reported above, suggested that when reminded of the POMA Run, the shared-event representation overrode the growth-mindset effect and dominated participants’ challenge-pursuit intentions.

We also performed the same analysis on the percentage of comfort-zone activities (out of 17) and that of panic-zone activities. None of the effects in the binormal multilevel regression performed on the comfort-zone percentage was significant. In the binormal regression performed on the panic-zone percentage, only the main effect of growth mindset was significant (B = 0.30, SE = 0.14, z = 2.18, p = .03). Students endorsing growth mindset more had a greater tendency to engage in the panic-zone activities.

Effect of valence of the POMA Run appraisal

The POMA Run priming effect was found regardless of whether participants liked or disliked the POMA Run. We coded the participants’ responses to the question: “Use one adjective to describe the POMA Run.” Two coders, blind to the participants’ experimental condition and growth-mindset levels, classified the participants’ responses into positive responses (count = 104), negative responses (count = 48), and unclassified responses (count = 20). Examples of positive responses were: “happy,” “healthy,” “positive,” “proactive,” “challenging,” “gained a lot,” “breakthrough,” and “improvement.” Examples of negative responses were: “troublesome,” “tiring,” “unnecessary,” “not my cup of tea,” “don’t want to go,” and “waste of time.” Examples of the unclassified responses were: “hard to say,” “unique,” “POMA,” “no feeling,” “everyone has their choice,” and “no comment.” Inter-rater agreement was 96%. Disagreement was resolved through discussion.

A binormal multilevel regression analysis was performed on the challenge-pursuit index with growth mindset, prime, valence, and their interactions as predictor, controlling for perceived difficulty score. Participants with unclassified responses to the POMA Run were excluded from the analysis. The main effect of valence was not significant (B = 0.25, SE = 0.21, t = 1.18, p = .24). The growth-mindset X prime interaction remained marginally significant (B = −0.48, SE = 0.25, t = −1.91, p = .06) and all interactions involving valence were not significant (growth-mindset X valence interaction: B = −0.005, SE = 0.24, t = −0.02, p = .98; prime X valence interaction: B = 0.25, SE = 0.31, t = 0.82, p = .41; growth-mindset X prime X valence interaction: B = 0.06, SE = 0.31, t = 0.21, p = .83).

Discussion

Our results suggest that personal endorsement of growth mindset was positively related to challenge-pursuit tendency. In the control condition, students with a stronger endorsement of growth mindset showed a greater tendency to pursue an activity they classified as one in the stretch zone. This result coheres with previous results related to the motivational benefits of growth mindset (Rege et al., 2021; Yeager et al., 2019). We also found that activation of a shared-event representation could effectively increase the challenge-pursuit intention of participants with a weaker growth mindset: their challenge-pursuit index was higher in the prime condition than the control condition.

Our results also show that shared-event representation can operate independently of personal endorsement of growth mindset, and that shared-event representation can have a stronger influence than personal endorsement of growth mindset in promoting challenge-pursuit. In the control condition, the presence of growth mindset was accompanied by a higher level of challenge-pursuit. However, following the POMA Run priming, the presence of growth-mindset endorsement did not predict the level of challenge-pursuit intention. Because the primed event representation was directly linked to the action frames in the self-transcendence script, it could affect challenge-pursuit intention directly without the mediation of personal mindset. Thus, the activation of the POMA Run shared representation and their associated action frames could operate independently of growth mindset.

Moreover, the activated action frames could override the chronic effect of growth mindset to affect challenge-pursuit intentions in situ. According to the theory of knowledge activation, the knowledge items with the highest activation level in situ would have the greatest influence on behavioral intention (Higgins, 1996). Growth and fixed mindset are background beliefs about the features and properties of human attributes. Without priming, students form pertinent behavioral intentions based their background beliefs on the malleability of intelligence (Plaks, 2017; Sternberg, 1985). However, following activation of the POMA Run representation and its action scripts in the immediate context, the activation level of the POMA Run rose above that of students’ background mindset, overriding its chronic influence on behavioral intention.

The present study was conducted in a Hong Kong secondary school. In this study, we found empirical support for the effectiveness of a shared-event representation, which could be called out by its reminder, in promoting challenge-pursuit. We believe that our results can be generalized to other cultures and settings, because the effect of event representation priming follows from a universal psychological principle and has been replicated across cultures (see Hong et al., 2000).

Two-Fold effects of iconic priming

At the start of this article we contended that the self-transcendence meme of the shared episodic memories of the POMA Run, once activated, would strengthen challenge-pursuit intentions. The results of the present study suggest that the POMA Run priming could have two effects on behavioral decisions. First, it lowered the perceived difficulty of the activities presented in the situations. Second, it increased the willingness to engage in stretch-zone activities. That is, the POMA Run first made the students reclassify a panic-zone activity as a stretch-zone activity and then increase the motivation to engage in stretch-zone activities. The lower perceived difficulty might be due to the activated POMA Run action frames supplying a ready-made action script to overcome challenges, leading to a less-threatening perception of the tasks. At the same time, the activated action frames that are associated with prior success experience raised the motivation to apply the script to perform stretch-zone activities.

Limitations and further studies

The present study has several limitations. First, we measured the intention to engage in the stretch-zone activities, but not the actual behaviors. Second, the priming manipulation required the participants to supply a one-word description of the POMA Run. The result shows that activating the shared-event representation of the POMA Run increased challenge-taking intentions. However it is possible that the POMA Run created this effect through other mechanisms. For example, it is possible that the POMA Run priming reminded participants of the improved strategies and skills in problem-solving. It is also possible that the POMA Run priming activated the concept of “challenges can be overcome by using the correct strategies,” which could have made the stretch-zone tasks seemed easier and more manageable.

A third possibility is that the POMA Run primed the self-improvement goal. Although goals are also a kind of mental representation, goal priming, because of its motivational value, differs from event priming. A goal directs action toward attaining positive end states and avoiding negative ones. Priming a goal should increase the value of the goal and the value of means that are perceived to be instrumental to goal attainment (Förster et al., 2007). As such, the activation of the POMA Run could have primed a valued goal, which increases the desirability of actions leading to the attainment of this goal, resulting in a greater tendency to pursue challenges. Further research is needed to identify the specific priming mechanism observed in the present study to help refine the design of effective self-transcendence interventions.

	Engagement intention of activity
Comfort	1029 (35%)	142 (5%)	1171 (40%)
Stretch	903 (31%)	207 (7%)	1110 (38%)
Panic	206 (9%)	383 (13%)	643 (22%)
Total	2192 (75%)	732 (25%)	2924 (100%)

Footnotes

Data availability

The data for this study are available at .

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

ORCID iDs

Yuk-Yue Tong

Man Leung Ha

Mo Kit Ip

Hiu-Sze Chan

Appendix A

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	Engagement intention of activity
Zone	Yes	No	Total
Comfort	1029 (35%)	142 (5%)	1171 (40%)
Stretch	903 (31%)	207 (7%)	1110 (38%)
Panic	206 (9%)	383 (13%)	643 (22%)
Total	2192 (75%)	732 (25%)	2924 (100%)