ApaCenter

Most parenting advice resources highlight the importance of praising your child. Upon further investigation, however, it appears as if not all praise is created equal. Below I briefly summarize and evaluate different types of praise.
1. Evaluative Praise vs. Acknowledgement Praise
• Evaluative praise provides a comment on the child’s desired/appropriate behavior that includes a judgment or feeling from the commentator (e.g. “you are so smart, your handwriting is so neat”)
• Acknowledgement praise offers a description of the Child’s appropriate behavior without value. (e.g. “I noticed that you sat and waited quietly while mommy was on the phone.”)
• Acknowledgements are generally thought to be more effective in shaping behavior than evaluative praise.
2. Praising Ability vs. Praising Effort
• Praising ability can have negative outcomes. Particularly, children who’s successes are attributed to an innate ability (i.e. “you are smart,” “you are excellent at mathematics”) have a tendency to avoid difficult task for fear of appearing inadequate.
• Praising for effort, however, encourages children to take academic risks and have a growth oriented mindset.

Tags: academic achievement, behavior, parenting, praise