Last night, 13-year-old Faizan Zaki of Plano, Texas, won the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Including Faizan, whose parents emigrated from India, 30 of the past 36 champions have been Indian Americans.
If you think the pattern is a fluke, consider this. In 2018, nearly half of the 41 Scripps finalists were Indian Americans. In 2019, eight contestants, most of them 13 years old, were tied after 17 rounds and then survived an additional three rounds by spelling every word perfectly. The judges conferred and decided to bring an end to the grueling competition by announcing a tie and declaring eight co-champions (Albanese, 2019). Seven of the eight winners were Indian Americans.
What’s going on? Why do Indian American kids consistently blow away the competition?
Marya Hannun, a writer for Foreign Policy magazine, believes part of the answer can be found in India’s educational system, which emphasizes rote learning and memorization. She also claims that spelling bees represent “a way for Indians to assimilate” into mainstream American society and that “highly skilled immigrants tend to enroll their children in more academically oriented extracurricular pursuits” (Hannun, 2013).
Ben Paynter, a writer at Slate, attributes the success of Indian Americans to the North South Foundation, which organizes minor-league spelling contests around the country for young Indian Americans. He says most Indian American spelling champs have competed for years in regional competitions sponsored by the North South Foundation (Paynter, 2016).
These factors can explain the phenomenal success of Indian Americans in spelling contests, but Indian American students also excel in other kinds of academic competitions. In 2013, Aseem Jha earned perfect scores on the SAT and the ACT. In 2019, high school student Krithik Ramesh won first place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. In 2023, six Indian American middle schoolers were among the top 10 finalists in the annual 3M Young Scientist Challenge. In 2024, 13 of the top 40 finalists at Regeneron’s prestigious Science Talent Search were Indian American high school seniors.
There’s no doubt that being encouraged by parents and gaining experience through preliminary competitions give Indian American students an edge, but I’m willing to bet that culture-based beliefs also play a crucial role. Specifically, people with different cultural backgrounds often have different beliefs about the nature of intelligence and its changeability. These beliefs can determine how hard one works and how long one persists in the face of failure.
Two Conceptions of Intelligence
Cultural psychologists have known for years that, as a group, North Americans are more likely than Asians to subscribe to an entity theory of intelligence, whereas Asians—Chinese, Koreans, and Indians, for example—are more likely to embrace an incremental theory of intelligence (Rattan, Savani, Naidu, and Dweck, 2012).
Someone with an entity view believes that abilities and traits are innate features of the self. These features are more or less fixed and highly resistant to change. According to this view, one’s intelligence is an inborn attribute that doesn’t change much over time.
Someone with an incremental view believes that abilities and traits are often in flux and can respond to the efforts we make. According to this view, one’s intelligence is changeable and can be improved through effort and hard work.
Not surprisingly, people who hold an entity view of intelligence are more likely to blame their academic failures and setbacks on their immutable intellectual ability. I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard one of my American students say, “I’m just no good at math.”
In contrast, people who hold an incremental view of intelligence respond to their academic failures and setbacks by redoubling their efforts and trying new strategies. They say, “I need to spend more time studying, and maybe I should get help from a tutor.”
Several years ago, psychologists Aneeta Rattan, Carol Dweck, and their colleagues found that university students in Bangalore, India, were much more likely than university students in California to hold an incremental view of intelligence. Three-quarters of the Indians surveyed said almost all babies can become highly intelligent. Seven in 10 said intelligence can be changed a lot over time. In sharp contrast, two-thirds of the Americans surveyed said only some babies can become highly intelligent. Six in 10 said intelligence cannot be changed much over time (Rattan et al., 2012).
Intelligence Essential Reads
A belief in the changeability of intelligence and other psychological traits motivates us to stick with it and better ourselves, to work harder and not give up. Indian Americans, as a group, are more likely to hold that belief. Is it any wonder that Indian American youngsters have dominated the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the past 25 years? They’ve got what it takes—a belief that, if they work hard and don’t give up, they’ll get better and better and better.
