Article on the Effects of Praise on Children from the BPS Blog

Self Esteem initiatives have been accepted as a necessity within western school systems and parents have been encouraged to contribute to the elevation of their child's self esteem through praise and positive attention. Recently however the use of Praise has been questioned and this article takes an interesting look at the possible negative effects of praise.

From BPS's Blog:

-"When you’ve done something good, or performed a task well, it feels great to get some praise for it. And parents and teachers, especially in Western cultures, are encouraged to dole out praise to children in an increasingly generous manner. A drawing might not just be 'good', it might be 'incredible'. That song wasn’t just 'beautiful', it was 'epic'. Such praise is often given with the best intentions, particularly in the belief that positive feedback, especially for children who don’t have much faith in themselves, might help to raise their self-esteem. But does it work?"

Recent research by Eddie Brummelman and colleagues has tried to shed light on this question. In three studies, they looked at how adults dish out praise to children in both an experimental and naturalistic setting, and how children with varying levels of self-esteem take it. Their results suggest that overly positive praise might not have the intended effect for children who have low self-esteem.

In the first experiment, Brummelman’s team asked a group of adults to read short descriptions of hypothetical children, described as either having high or low self-esteem. People were told about something that the child had done – say, solving a maths problem, or performing a song. After reading through the description, they were asked to write down any praise that they might give the child. Brummelman’s team found that about a quarter of the praise was overly positive (e.g. "that sounded magnificent!"), and that people were more likely to give more extremely positive praise to the children who had low self-esteem.

The researchers then tried to replicate these findings in a more naturalistic setting, by observing how parents interacted with their children when giving them a series of maths exercises at home. Brummelman and colleagues found a similar result to their laboratory experiment – about a quarter of the time, praise was overly inflated, and children who had lower self-esteem were given more inflated praise than those who had higher self-esteem.
 

To read more about the results please follow this link to the rest of this article


- Post written by guest host Dr Pete Etchells, Lecturer in Psychology at Bath Spa University and Science Blog Co-ordinator for The Guardian.

Brummelman, E., Thomaes, S., Orobio de Castro, B., Overbeek, G., & Bushman, B. (2014). "That's Not Just Beautiful--That's Incredibly Beautiful!": The Adverse Impact of Inflated Praise on Children With Low Self-Esteem Psychological Science, 25 (3), 728-735 DOI: 10.1177/0956797613514251

The SMART Priciple for Reaching Your Goals or Resolutions

By Danielle Duplassie, MA, PhD Student, RCC

Each New Year, many people often set "resolutions" for themselves to grow and/or feel more fulfilled in some way -- a resolution to be healthier; a resolution to get a better job; a resolution to have a better relationship with one's partner... and the list can go on and on. The difficulty with resolutions is that they are often vague and do not incorporate the process through which they will be achieved. The lack of planning on how to initiate and monitor a resolution can often set people up for failure.

As counsellors, part of our job is to work with clients to help them achieve their goals, objectives, and/or resolutions. One of the acronyms used to help clients identify a process to achieve their goals is the "SMART" principle. Let's apply this principle using the example of "I want to be healthier this year."

Specific -- It's impossible to achieve a goal that is vague. Goals and resolutions must be specific. If you want to be healthier, what does that look like? Do you want to eat better foods? Do you want to exercise? Do you want to engage in relaxation practices, such as meditation? Get specific about what your resolution is -- I want to be able to lift 20lbs on the bench press, I want my waist to be 2 inches smaller, I want to attend a yoga class at least 3 times/month.

Measurable -- How will you know when you have achieved, or you are in the process of achieving, your resolution or goal? Goals must be measurable. With respect to health, how will you know when you are healthier? Will your body feel lighter or stronger? Will you be able to walk or run a further distance? Will you be able to touch your toes? Highlight the ways in which you can specifically measure the success of your goals.

Attainable -- Is the goal you are attempting to implement even attainable? If you want to lose 20lbs in one week, that is certainly not attainable. However, losing 1 - 2lbs in a week is far more manageable. Keeping your goals and resolutions within your reach will set you up for success.

Realistic -- Is your goal or resolution realistic? Will your life circumstances allow you to implement your strategies in the way that you would like? For example, if you are wanting to implement 1 hour of exercise into your daily life, will your work, family, and social life allow you to do so? If not, get realistic with yourself and create a goal that is do-able... maybe 1 hour 3 times/week is more realistic.

Timely -- Set a time-frame to work with. Highlight your short-term focus and your long-term focus, with an emphasis on the short-term. This will help you to see the progress of your specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic aspirations.

An important element to remember when creating goals and resolutions is that the journey is more important than the destination. When an individual puts too much focus on the destination, it can sometimes become overwhelming and contribute to a failure in meeting one's desired goals. Enjoy the process and you'll be more likely to succeed!