Fixed and growth mindsets represent implicit theories about the nature of one's abilities or traits. The existing body of research on academic achievement and the effectiveness of mindset interventions for student learning largely relies on the premise that fixed and growth mindsets are mutually exclusive. This premise has led to the common practice in which measures of one mindset are reversed and then assumed to represent the other mindset. Focusing on K-12 and university students (N = 27328), we tested the validity of this practice via a comprehensive item-level meta-analysis of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITIS). By means of meta-analytic structural equation modeling and network analysis, we examined (a) the ITIS item-item correlations and their heterogeneity across 32 primary studies; (b) the factor structure of the ITIS, including the distinction between fixed and growth mindset; and (c) moderator effects of sample, study, and measurement characteristics. We found positive item-item correlations within the sets of fixed and growth mindset items, with substantial between-study heterogeneity. The ITIS factor structure comprised two moderately correlated mindset factors ($\rho$ = 0.63–0.65), even after reversing one mindset scale. This structure was moderated by the educational level and origin of the student sample, the assessment mode, and scale modifications. Overall, we argue that fixed and growth mindsets are not mutually exclusive but correlated constructs. We discuss the implications for the assessment of implicit theories of intelligence in education.

固定心态和成长心态代表了关于一个人的能力或特质性质的隐含理论。现有的关于学业成就和学生学习心态干预有效性的研究在很大程度上依赖于固定心态和成长心态相互排斥的前提。这个前提导致了一种常见的做法，其中一种心态的测量被颠倒，然后假设代表另一种心态。专注于 K-12 和大学生（N = 27328)，我们通过对隐式智力量表 (ITIS) 的综合项目级元分析来测试这种做法的有效性。通过元分析结构方程建模和网络分析，我们检查了 (a) ITIS 项目-项目相关性及其在 32 项主要研究中的异质性；(b) ITIS的要素结构，包括固定型和成长型思维模式的区别；(c) 样本、研究和测量特征的调节效应。我们在固定和成长心态项目集中发现了正的项目-项目相关性，研究之间存在显着的异质性。ITIS 因素结构包括两个中度相关的心态因素（$\rho$ = 0.63–0.65），即使在颠倒一种心态量表之后也是如此。这种结构受到学生样本的教育水平和来源、评估模式和量表修改的调节。总的来说，我们认为固定心态和成长心态不是相互排斥的而是相互关联的结构。我们讨论了评估教育中智力的内隐理论的意义。