You might want to think twice before advising your students to find their passions.<\/p>\n
Although the advice is well-intentioned, a new study suggests the guidance may encourage young people to close off their minds to other subjects.<\/p>\n
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Researchers from Stanford University (CA) and Yale NUS College in Singapore studied 470 undergraduate students in a series of five experiments. They found that those students who had a \u201cfixed mind-set\u201d about their interests were less willing to explore new topics.<\/p>\n
In one experiment, for example, students were given an opportunity to learn more about black holes.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents were shown a video about black holes and the origin of the universe, which most found fascinating,\u201d according to a recent Washington Post article<\/a><\/em> about the study. \u201cBut when asked to read a denser scientific article on the same topic, the students with a fixed mind-set lost interest more quickly than those who believed interests can be cultivated.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a shame, especially in a world where career success increasingly depends on developing knowledge in areas outside of one\u2019s specialty, according to researchers Carol Dweck and Paul O\u2019Keefe.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what Steve Jobs was all about \u2014 he didn\u2019t just make a computer; he made a computer that was a piece of art,\u201d O\u2019Keefe told The Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n