Growth mindset and academic resilience: The mediating role of grit among Chinese university students

Academic resilience is an important adaptive capacity for Chinese university students studying in high-pressure environments. Drawing on mindset theory, conservation of resources theory, and stress-appraisal reasoning, this study examined whether grit statistically mediates the association between growth mindset and academic resilience and whether perceived academic stress moderates the second-stage path from grit to academic resilience. Cross-sectional questionnaire data were collected face to face from 486 undergraduate students across four Chinese cities (Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Xi'an). The hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Growth mindset showed positive associations with both grit and academic resilience, and grit was positively associated with academic resilience. The indirect association between growth mindset and academic resilience via grit was significant, indicating partial mediation. The interaction between grit and perceived academic stress was also significant, such that the positive association between grit and academic resilience was stronger at higher levels of perceived academic stress. Consistent with this pattern, the index of moderated mediation was significant. Because the design was cross-sectional and based on self-reports, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects. Even so, the study clarifies a conditional process through which growth mindset, grit, and academic stress are jointly related to academic resilience in Chinese higher education.