This study aimed to examine the psychological factors influencing teaching behavior using survey data (n =136) from elementary school teachers, thereby assisting teachers in adopting autonomy-supportive teaching strategies. Autonomy support is crucial for fostering students’ intrinsic motivation and sustaining their learning even in the face of failures. First, cluster analysis was conducted to extract teachers’ mindset profiles. Next, one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test was employed to examine the relationship between teachers’ mindsets and their autonomy-supportive behaviors. Three teacher mindset profiles were identified: pessimist, growth-oriented, and neutralist. The growth-oriented group exhibited the highest level of organizational, procedural, and cognitive autonomy support. The findings suggest that growth-oriented teachers are more likely to encourage student ownership of learning. 

Keywords : Mindset, Autonomy support, Cluster analysis, Teacher profile, Instructional strategies