Employees' Mindset and Staying Satisfied After Performance Evaluation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.1407.12029Abstract
This cross-sectional study uses data from two sources within an organization in the sales industry. Data was collected from employees (n = 75) and their direct supervisors. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine how an employee's mindset and their most recent performance evaluation, both directly and indirectly, influence their job satisfaction. Results indicate that employees with a more fixed mindset were more sensitive to their recent job performance in terms of job satisfaction. At the same time, employees with a more growth mindset were more resilient in the face of poor recent job performance, as measured by job satisfaction. This study empirically tests, in a business setting, what has mainly been tested in other fields (e.g., education) or in experimental settings. This field study in a sales context allows us to confidently suggest best practices for both performance management and employee selection.
References
Ali, S. A. M., Said, N. A., Yunus, N. A. M., Abd Kader, S. F., Ab Latif, D. S., & Munap, R. (2014). Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model to job satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 129, 46-52.
Aziri, B. (2011). Job satisfaction: a literature review. Management Research & Practice, 3(4).
Caniëls, M. C., Semeijn, J. H., & Renders, I. H. (2018). Mind the mindset! The interaction of proactive personality, transformational leadership, and growth mindset for engagement at work. Career Development International.
Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Psychology Press.
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95(2), 256.
Dweck, C. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2019). Mindsets: A view from two eras. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(3), 481–496.
Ferris, G. R., Witt, L. A., & Hochwarter, W. A. (2001). Interaction of social skills and general mental ability on job performance and salary. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(6), 1075.
Han, S. J., & Stieha, V. (2020). Growth mindset for human resource development: A scoping review of the literature with recommended interventions. Human Resource Development Review, 19(3), 309–331.
Heslin, P. A., Vandewalle, D. O. N., & Latham, G. P. (2006). Keen to help? Managers' Implicit Person Theories and Their Subsequent Employee Coaching. Personnel Psychology, 59(4), 871–902.
Hong, Y. Y., Chiu, C. Y., Dweck, C. S., Lin, D. M. S., & Wan, W. (1999). Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: a meaning system approach—Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 588.
Iaffaldano, M. T., & Muchinsky, P. M. (1985). Job satisfaction and job performance: A metaanalysis. Psychological bulletin, 97(2), 251.
Inceoglu, I., & Warr, P. (2011). Personality and job engagement. Journal of Personnel Psychology.
Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 530.
Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., Podsakoff, N. P., Shaw, J. C., & Rich, B. L. (2010). The relationship between pay and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the literature. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(2), 157-167.
Katebi, A., HajiZadeh, M. H., Bordbar, A., & Salehi, A. M. (2022). The relationship between “job satisfaction” and “job performance”: A meta-analysis. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 23(1), 21-42.
Keating, L. A., & Heslin, P. A. (2015). The potential role of mindsets in unleashing employee engagement. Human Resource Management Review, 25(4), 329–341.
Page | 44 Scholar Publishing Kondratowicz, B. (2022). Growth mindset and life and job satisfaction: the mediatory role of stress and self-efficacy. Health Psychology Report, 11(2), 98.
Loher, B. T., Noe, R. A., Moeller, N. L., & Fitzgerald, M. P. (1985). A meta-analysis of the relation of job characteristics to job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(2), 280.
Mangels, J. A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2006). Why do beliefs about intelligence influence learning success? A social cognitive neuroscience model. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 1(2), 75–86.
Mazzetti, G., Robledo, E., Vignoli, M., Topa, G., Guglielmi, D., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2021). Work Engagement: A meta-analysis using the job demands-resources model. Psychological Reports, 00332941211051988.
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi‐sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 25(3), 293–315.
Wanous, J. P., Reichers, A. E., & Hudy, M. J. (1997). Overall job satisfaction: how good are singleitem measures? Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(2), 247.
Van Saane, N., Sluiter, J. K., Verbeek, J. H. A. M., & Frings‐Dresen, M. H. (2003). Reliability and validity of instruments measuring job satisfaction systematic review. Occupational Medicine, 53(3), 191-200.
Yang, Y., Siu, O. L., & Huang, Y. (2024, July). Growth mindset at workplace: A new way to improve employees' job performance and job satisfaction. In 33rd International Congress of Psychology.
Zhang, X., Qiu, C., Li, X., Shekara, A., Suo, X., & Wang, S. (2025). Examining the mediating role of grit and self‐efficacy in the association between growth mindset and job satisfaction in a sample of Chinese nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 2025(1).
Zingoni, M., & Byron, K. (2017). How beliefs about the self influence perceptions of negative feedback and subsequent effort and learning. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 139, 50–62.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Matthew Zingoni

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.