Cs. Dweck et al., IMPLICIT THEORIES - INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN THE LIKELIHOOD AND MEANING OF DISPOSITIONAL INFERENCE, Personality & social psychology bulletin, 19(5), 1993, pp. 644-656
In their research, the authors have identified individuals who believe
that a particular trait (intelligence, personality, or moral characte
r) is a fixed disposition (entity theorists) and have contrasted them
with those who believe the trait to be a malleable quality (incrementa
l theorists). Research shows that an entity theory consistently predic
ts (a) global dispositional inferences for self and other, even in the
face of limited evidence, as well as (b) an overreliance on dispositi
onal information in making other judgments and decisions. An increment
al theory, by contrast, predicts inferences that are more specific, co
nditional, and provisional. The implicit beliefs seem to represent not
only different theories about the nature of traits but also different
mental models about how personality works-what the units of analysis
are and how they enter into causal relations. Implications for the lit
erature on person perception are discussed.