Praising a child for being smart can reduce motivation and hinder their ability to cope with setbacks, according to research by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck. Two new studies published in Psychological Science suggest that children who have been told they are intelligent may resort to deception and dishonesty when faced with intellectual obstacles, with the effect observable in three-year-olds. The studies focused on kindergarten and preschool children in eastern China.
In 2006, pioneering research by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck theorized that telling a child that they are smart, rather than praising them for effort on a specific task, tends to reduce motivation to learn and hinders a child’s ability to cope. setbacks. In 2017, two new studies published in the journal Psychological Science add a moral element to the theory, finding that children who have been told they are intelligent may resort to deception and dishonesty when faced with intellectual obstacles. The study results indicate that this may occur in three-year-olds.
Study different types of praise:
The researchers said that children with a reputation for being intelligent had added “pressure to perform well in order to live up to other people’s expectations, even if they need to cheat to do so.”
Both studies focused on kindergarten and preschool children. In one study, researchers studied 300 children in eastern China using a riddle and a hidden camera. The results were the same for boys and girls.
“What our study shows is that harm can go beyond motivation and extend into the moral domain. It makes a child more willing to cheat to do well,” said co-author Gail Heyman.
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