The initial theory of emotion study (Tamir et al.2007) found that students entering college with an entity theory of emotion experienced more depressive symptoms by the end of their first year. Although research on implicit theories is not prominent in clinical psychology, there are several reasons to posit connections between implicit theories and symptoms of psychological distress. Individuals differ in terms of how much they believe self- attributes such as intelligence and personality can change—some believe these attributes are fixed and immutable whereas others believe these attributes change with effort and learning.
A study done to determine the effect of these implicit theories resulted in a true hypothesis that they do in fact have a psychological effect on college students.
Statements such as "You have a certain amount of intelligence and you really cannot do much to change it.’’and "No matter how hard you try, you can’t really change the level of anxiety that you have." were rated by a selected diverse sample of college students. Transition to adulthood is a period characterized by important challenges and changes. Adolescents are faced with the task of figuring out who they are and how they will fill the roles expected of mature members of society. With this type of pressure placed upon them, they are left wondering how to grow mentally and are challenged with mental health problems.
