"If something is hard, I'll probably fail."

Over 400 adults were asked a series of questions about what difficulty means to them. On average, respondents with lower income tended to agree that if something is difficult, they have low odds of succeeding. This frame of mind is demotivating and can lead to students not trying to do well in school.

These are the average responses by income level. 1 = strongly disagree, 6 = strongly agree

less than $10,000

3.28

$10,000 to $19,999

2.91

$20,000 to $29,999

2.83

$30,000 to $39,999

2.67

$40,000 to $49,999

2.71

$50,000 to $59,999

2.45

$60,000 to $69,999

2.33

$70,000 to $79,999

2.56

$80,000 to $89,999

2.64

$90,000 to $99,999

2.33

more than $100,000

2.28

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