Can certain types of praise hurt children?

Praising children for their intelligence in the academic arena may increase self-confidence, but according to a new study, the long-term effects of such praise may leave children powerless to handle failure.

In a recent study of the behavior of 412 fifth-graders, Claudia Mueller, PhD, and Carol Dweck, PhD, of Columbia University recorded the children?s reactions to solving mathematical problems. After completing the first task, researchers praised some students for their intellect and others for their hard work. The researchers continued to assign problems of greater difficulty, and noted how each child responded to the challenges.

The researchers found that children who were praised for intelligence worried more about failure. They also compared their test scores with other students, tended to choose tasks that validated their intelligence and displayed less enthusiasm and determination when the problems became difficult. Dweck and Mueller believe attributing a student?s success solely on intelligence prompts them to think of intelligence as a fixed trait, and failure stems from a lack of ability. So when students scored poorly on a test, they assumed it mirrored their intelligence.

However, children praised for the effort they put into solving the mathematical problems held a more stable view of their abilities. Instead of focusing on the final product, students placed more emphasis on the possibility of learning something new and concentrated on ways to learn different approaches to solving the problems. Children praised for effort also showed more resiliency when faced with setbacks, and maintained persistence with a high level of interest. When students did not succeed in solving the problems, they attributed their failure to insufficient effort, not a lack of intelligence.

Mueller and Dweck admit the study contains a few limitations. First, children may react differently to a different task in another environment. Second, researchers did not examine the potential benefits of combining praise for ability and praise for hard work. Finally, researchers did not examine the effects of praising hard work when hard work fails to produce favorable results.

Mueller and Dweck?s findings were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 75, No. 1, p. 33?52).

?M. Waters