History[edit]
Numerous scholars have identified mindset history as being a critical gap in contemporary literature and also in current approaches to mindset education and training.[5][7]
The first dedicated review of mindset history found that mindset psychology has a century-long history of explicit research and practice, with its origin phase taking place between 1908 and 1939, early inquiries occurring between 1940 and 1987, and contemporary bodies of work emerging in and beyond 1988. This review also identified some of the traditions of research and practice that are closely related to the origins and history of mindset psychology, some of which span back hundreds and thousands of years. Then, there are the lineages of research and practice that did not explicitly use the term mindset, but which bear some resemblance to it, and are in some way related to this history.[5]
Research[edit]
Psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer conducted explorations of mindset since the 1990s.[8][9] Gollwitzer's contributions include his theory of mindset and the mindset theory of action phases.[7]
In addition to the field of cognitive psychology, the study of mindset is evident in the social sciences and other fields (such as positive psychology). Characteristic of this area of study is its fragmentation among academic disciplines.[7][5]
Politics[edit]
A political example is the "Cold War mindset" in the U.S. and the USSR, which included belief in game theory, in a chain of command in control of nuclear materials, and in the mutual assured destruction of both in a nuclear war.[10] This mindset prevented an attack by either country, but deterrence theory has made assessments of the Cold War mindset a subject of controversy.[11]
Modern military theory attempts to challenge entrenched mindsets in asymmetric warfare, terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These threats are "a revolution in military affairs", requiring rapid adaptation to new threats and circumstances.[12]
Systems theory[edit]
Building on Magoroh Maruyama's concept of mindscape,[13][14] mindset includes a cultural and social orientation: hierarchical and egalitarian individualism, hierarchical and egalitarian collectivism, hierarchic and egalitarian synergism, and hierarchical and egalitarian populism.[15]
Collective mindset[edit]
Collective mindsets are described in Edwin Hutchins's Cognition in the Wild (1995)[16] and Maximilian Senges' Knowledge Entrepreneurship in Universities (2007).[17] Hutchins analyzed a team of naval navigators as a cognitive unit or computational system, and Senges explained how a collective mindset is part of university strategy and practice.[17]
Parallels exist in collective intelligence[18] and the wisdom of the crowd.[19] Zara said that since collective reflection is more explicit, discursive, and conversational, it needs a good Gestell.[20]
Erik H. Erikson's analysis of group-identities and what he calls a "life-plan" is relevant to a collective mindset. Erikson cites Native Americans who were meant to undergo a reeducation process to instill a modern "life-plan" which advocated housing and wealth; the natives' collective historic identity as buffalo hunters was oriented around such fundamentally different motivations that communication about life plans was difficult.[21]
An institution is related to collective mindset; an entrepreneurial mindset refers to a person who "values uncertainty in the marketplace and seeks to continuously identify opportunities with the potential to lead to important innovations".[22] An institution with an entrepreneurial philosophy will have entrepreneurial goals and strategies. It fosters an entrepreneurial milieu, allowing each entity to pursue emerging opportunities. A collective mindset fosters values which lead to a particular practice. Hitt cites the five dimensions of an entrepreneurial mindset as "autonomy, innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness".[23]