The authors' objective in this study was to determine whether the precepts of R. J. Sternberg's (1988, 1997) theory of mental self-government apply to a non-Western culture. They administered R. J. Sternberg and R. K. Wagner's (1992) Thinking Styles Inventory, which is based on the theory of mental self-government, to 429 Filipino university students. The results of item analysis, scale intercorrelations, and factor analysis were consistent with the general provisions of the theory. Correlational analysis between thinking styles and grade point average showed that thinking styles are related to academic achievement. The results are explained with respect to the concepts and practices of Philippine culture and schools and discussed in relation to the developmental assumptions of the theory of mental self-government.

The growth mindset is the belief that one’s level of intelligence can be changed, and many education-reform advocates have pushed for growth mindset interventions in the belief it will improve achievement in schools. While researchers have debated the usefulness of mindset interventions in schools, current research has focused on investigating the social contexts within which the growth mindset benefits are realized. As there are divergent findings regarding how socioeconomic status (SES) relates to growth mindset, this study examines how SES moderates the relationship between Filipino students’ growth mindset and learning in mathematics and science. Data from a nationally representative sample (n = 7,233) of Filipino students from the PISA2018 database were analyzed. The results show that holding a growth mindset was positively associated with learning in mathematics and science, explaining a small portion of variations in learning. In contrast, SES explained a larger portion of variations in learning. The positive association between growth mindset and learning was found only among higher SES students; there was a nonsignificant relationship between growth mindset and learning among lower SES students. The results are discussed in terms of how social resources supportive of efforts to improve intelligence might be prerequisites for realizing growth mind-set benefits.