Week 6

    After reading in depth about entity theory vs. incremental theory, I realized that while I recognize and appreciate the benefits of incremental theory, there are still areas of my life that I apply entity theory to.  One of the big examples I thought of while preparing our LTD last week was my experience with video games.  Growing up, my big brother would rarely let me play any games on his PS2 (what a time) and when he did it was usually a racing game since I was 11 and Call of Duty wasn't my vibe.  I remember being absolutely horrible no matter what I tried which led to typical big brother behavior of ridiculing my skills and usually taking the controller back while I learned to just steer clear of any gaming outside of Mario Kart.  Now that my boyfriend plays video games around me and after this reading, I've realized that as a young kid I accepted that I was just bad at video games and my coordination must be terrible. Now I probably could figure it out like anybody else and be efficient at it, but I just never had the desire to participate since I am just not good at them.

    There were some areas that I discovered I apply incremental theory to as well and I think I mainly have my parents to thank for that.  They were both always big on education and pushed us to be our best, but they never pushed high expectations on us or freaked out over grades. I think this is because they both kind of struggled through college, but eventually made it to awesome jobs and they wanted us to know that life, especially education, is about putting in the work.  As a result of this, my approach to education has become more and more incremental and I am able to know that I am never "dumb", I just haven't learned that yet.

     I think our choice in which theory we hold has a large role in the occupations we engage in.  Dweck's article spoke about how entity theorists are more likely to do the same old things they know they can do to protect their self-esteem and self-efficacy, while incremental theorists are willing and want to challenge themselves and try new occupations that they may not be best at initially.  I think this is how a more incremental self theory has improved my new occupation; by accepting this new challenge of a new lifestyle while knowing that I will have slips up which will not take away from my overall journey or goal. I haven't had a slip up or cheat meal in a while, but I know that it is not the end of the world and that I am on a long journey if I really want to make this a part of my life after this class is over.