Structural relationships between growth mindset and affective factors in mathematics learning

This study examined the structural relationships among affective characteristics in mathematics learning using structural equation modeling, with growth mindset as the starting point.Specifically, it analyzed the pathways through which value perception, interest, and self-confidence influence challenge and perseverance as well as mathematics anxiety via the mediating role of learning motivation, and verified differences across school levels through multi-group analysis.Data were collected from 31,022 students across 1,153 schools-drawn from the population of elementary, middle, and high schools under 17 provincial and metropolitan offices of education nationwide-using stratified two-stage cluster sampling stratified by school level, region, and area size.A 25item instrument comprising seven subfactors measured on a five-point Likert scale was employed.The results showed that growth mindset had significant positive effects on value perception (β=0.710),interest (β=0.562), and self-confidence (β=0.508), and that these variables, with learning motivation as the key mediator, strengthened challenge and perseverance while reducing mathematics anxiety.In the multi-group analysis, the effect of growth mindset was significant across all school levels; however, the paths from affective variables to learning motivation were frequently non-significant at the middle school level, confirming structural differences across school levels.In particular, the negative effect of learning motivation on mathematics anxiety was strongest at the high school level.These findings suggest that growth mindset education should be integrated with the internalization of value perception, and that school-level differentiated motivational support systems are needed.