The Washington Post (1/7, Joyce) “On Parenting” blog reports that a study appearing in the journal Psychological Science has determined that “heaping praise on a child with low self-esteem only does more damage,” and may cause them to shrink from new challenges. One experiment “found adults gave inflated praise to children with low self-esteem twice as often as they did to more confident children.” Another study found a group of children were more likely to seek out difficult tasks if they had high self-esteem, whereas children with low self-esteem refrained from “taking on bigger challenges” in an effort not to avoid being a disappointment.
Related Links:
— “Stop heaping praise on your kids., “Marvin Joseph, The Washington Post, January 6, 2014.