A systematic review and meta-analysis of implicit theory research in sport, physical activity, and physical education

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to gather, catalogue, assess and evaluate the available evidence examining implicit beliefs about ability in the sport, physical activity, and physical education contexts. A total of 43 studies were found, of which 39 were subjected to meta analyses. With only 7 experimental studies, the strength of evidence is moderate and the field would benefit from greater experimental work. Overall, incremental beliefs were moderately associated with a small group of theoretically-derived correlates, while entity beliefs were only weakly associated. The field would benefit from expanding these outcomes to include a wider range of pertinent outcomes. Researchers should focus their efforts on systematically exploring the most powerful ways of inducing adaptive implicit beliefs with the aim of providing solutions to significant problems such as preventing dropout from organised sports, improving academic grades in and beyond physical education, and increasing levels of physical activity.