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When Parents’ Praise Inflates, Children's Self‐Esteem Deflates
Child Development
Abstract
Western parents often give children overly positive, inflated praise. One perspective holds that inflated praise sets unattainable standards for children, eventually lowering children's self-esteem (self-deflation hypothesis). Another perspective holds that children internalize inflated praise to form narcissistic self-views (self-inflation hypothesis). These perspectives were tested in an observational-longitudinal study (120 parent–child dyads from the Netherlands) in late childhood (ages 7–11), when narcissism and self-esteem first emerge. Supporting the self-deflation hypothesis, parents’ inflated praise predicted lower self-esteem in children. Partly supporting the self-inflation hypothesis, parents’ inflated praise predicted higher narcissism—but only in children with high self-esteem. Noninflated praise predicted neither self-esteem nor narcissism. Thus, inflated praise may foster the self-views it seeks to prevent.
... Praise and criticism are the most common forms of parental feedback, considered useful tools by parents to bolster children's growth. Regretfully, these types of feedback from parents tend to be inaccurate, likely hindering the psychological and academic adjustment of children (e.g., Brummelman et al., 2017;Lee et al., 2017;Nikolić et al., 2018;Thomassin et al., 2020). Children's ability to understand and internalize the feedback of others for use in selfevaluation blossoms especially during late childhood (Nelemans et al., 2014). ...
... Given the increasing concern about protecting and building children's self-esteem, overpraise with words like "incredible" and "amazing" and deflated criticism are commonly considered to be effective tools (Brummelman & Sedikides, 2020;Le & Impett, 2016). Parents' tendency to exaggerate praise and minimize criticism when evaluating the performance of their children has been revealed by empirical research (Brummelman et al., 2014(Brummelman et al., , 2015(Brummelman et al., , 2017Le & Impett, 2016;Lee et al., 2017). In Western society, a series of laboratory observation studies found that Dutch parents gave inflated praise when they administered math exercises to their children (aged 7-11) in order to enhance their confidence, particularly for those children with low selfesteem (Brummelman et al., 2014(Brummelman et al., , 2015(Brummelman et al., , 2017. ...
... Parents' tendency to exaggerate praise and minimize criticism when evaluating the performance of their children has been revealed by empirical research (Brummelman et al., 2014(Brummelman et al., , 2015(Brummelman et al., , 2017Le & Impett, 2016;Lee et al., 2017). In Western society, a series of laboratory observation studies found that Dutch parents gave inflated praise when they administered math exercises to their children (aged 7-11) in order to enhance their confidence, particularly for those children with low selfesteem (Brummelman et al., 2014(Brummelman et al., , 2015(Brummelman et al., , 2017. The gender of the parent (i.e., father or mother), age of the parent, gender of the child, and age of the child were unrelated to the frequency of inflated praise (Brummelman et al., 2014(Brummelman et al., , 2017. ...
Accurate parental praise and criticism congruent with child performance—often ignored—might have lasting impacts on child development. This study explored whether the levels of the accuracy (from deflated to accurate to inflated) of parental praise and criticism perceived by children linked to a risk for their maladjustment (i.e., showing negative affect, failure-is-debilitating mindset, and academic self-handicapping) in a nonlinear way and perfectionism acted as a mediator. Data were collected on 1230 early adolescents (44.9% girls; Mage = 11.0 years, SD = 1.6) who resided in Chinese county towns with their parents. Applying polynomial regression and response surface analysis (RSA), the results showed that (a) Chinese children perceived parents’ tendency to slightly overpraise and overcriticize them; (b) perceptions of inflated and deflated parental praise and criticism were associated with higher levels of maladjustment outcomes; and (c) perfectionism played a mediating role in some cases. This study reveals the nonlinear and combined effects of the accuracy of parental praise and criticism and emphasizes the benefits of parental feedback commensurate with children’s actual performance.
... The quality of parental relationship is strongly linked with the teenagers' level of self-esteem [7]. This is partly because of genetic inheritance and partly through the degree of love, concern, acceptance, and interest that parents show their children [8]. ...
... Parents serve as role models for their children, and teenagers often model the behavior they see in their parents' relationship. If parents have healthy, positive relational skills characterized by communication, respect, and empathy, their teenagers are more likely to develop similar skills and behaviors in their own relationships [7,9]. ...
... Despite the mentioned studies linking the relational skills to quality of parental relationship and self-esteem [7,9], there has been no comprehensive research outlining the combined effects of these two variables on relational skills. In addition, no study examined the interplay of these variables among the 4Ps teenager beneficiaries in the Philippines who belong to the most vulnerable group. ...
Understanding how family dynamics and self-esteem impact the social development of teenagers from low-income backgrounds is crucial for designing effective youth development programs. This study investigates the relationship between parental relationships, self-esteem, and relational skills among senior high school students who are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Mindanao, Philippines. Utilizing a descriptive-correlational design and simple random sampling, the study surveyed 171 students using standardized questionnaires. Data analysis included mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation, and linear regression. Participants reported high parental relationship quality, self-esteem, and relational skills components such as bi-directional communication, disclosure and interpersonal closeness, and emotional experience and expression. However, assertion and conflict resolution skills were rated moderately. Parental relationships significantly correlated with self-esteem, particularly with mothers (p<0.05). Both factors significantly influenced relational skills (p<0.05). These findings suggest that while the 4Ps program may positively impact family relationships and self-esteem, additional support might be beneficial for developing stronger assertion and conflict resolution skills among beneficiaries, potentially leading to improved overall social development.
... Parents' responses to children's performance vary along a variety of dimensions (e.g., Brummelman, Nelemans, Thomaes, & Orobio de Castro, 2017;Gunderson et al., 2013), with a meaningful dimension being the extent to which they are oriented toward success versus failure (for a review, see . The crux of success-oriented responses is an emphasis on the positive, which often involves praise. ...
... Although not the focus of the current research, the nature of parents' success-and failureoriented responses may modulate their effects. For example, research in the West suggests parents' praise can backfire if exaggerated (Brummelman et al., 2017) or person-oriented that is, focused on ability (Pomerantz & Kempner, 2013). ...
... However, parents' responses to children's performance can vary along a variety of other dimensions important to children's emotional and academic adjustment. For example, parents' inflated praise appears to lead to decrements in children's self-esteem overtime (Brummelman et al., 2017). When parents' success-oriented responses are inflated such negative effects may also ensue. ...
This research examined the role of mothers’ self‐worth and self‐improvement goals in their responses to children’s performance in the United States (80% European American) and Hong Kong (100% Chinese). Mothers (N = 330) were induced to prioritize self‐worth or self‐improvement among children (Mage = 10.24 years; 48% girls) . Mothers induced to prioritize self‐worth (vs. self‐improvement) used more success‐oriented responses in both regions (ds = 0.53 and 0.35). Mothers induced to prioritize self‐improvement (vs. self‐worth) used more failure‐oriented responses only in the United States (d = 0.29). Mothers’ success‐oriented responses predicted more positive beliefs and affect in a cognitive task among children (βs = .10–.18). Taken together, the findings support the importance of parents’ goals in the socialization process.
... Praise addiction may first manifest in childhood. Children frequently receive praise from adults, such as their parents (Brummelman et al., 2017;Gunderson et al., 2013). Developmental research suggests that sensitivity to praise emerges early in development. ...
... Are some types of praise more addictive than others? For example, would children be more prone to praise addiction when the praise is labeled (Weeland et al., 2022), selective (Asaba et al., 2024), phrased in overly positive, inflated ways (e.g., "You did incredibly well!"; Brummelman et al., 2017), or focused on fixed traits (e.g., "You're so smart"; Gunderson et al., 2018)? Second, our design was not longitudinal, so we are unable to determine whether children's socialization experiences preceded the development of praise addiction. ...
Although it is normative for children to desire praise, some might show addiction to praise. We define praise addiction as a strong reliance on praise: a constant seeking of praise, prioritization of praise-seeking, and distress when praise is not received. Some scholars argue that praise addiction is central to narcissism. Despite extensive theorizing, empirical research on praise addiction is lacking. With this multi-informant survey and experimental study, we investigated the phenotype, socialization, and manifestations of praise addiction in a nonclinical sample of children (N = 221, ages 7–13, 91% Dutch, and one of their parents, 89% Dutch). We developed a parent-report measure of praise addiction as a continuous trait, based on substance use disorder criteria. We measured children’s subjective praise cravings and adapted a classic drug self-administration paradigm to capture children’s efforts to obtain praise. While average praise addiction levels were low, there were meaningful individual differences. Children higher in praise addiction had lower self-esteem, were more sensitive to reward, and experienced higher parental overvaluation and lower parental warmth. Also, they exerted greater effort to obtain praise, even though the effort required to obtain it increased. By contrast, children higher in narcissism did not have lower self-esteem, were not more sensitive to reward, and experienced higher parental overvaluation without lower parental warmth. They did not exert greater effort to obtain praise but did experience elevated praise cravings. This study uncovers the nature of praise addiction, demonstrates its separateness from narcissism, and validates that children high in praise addiction may pursue praise vigorously.
... Thus, narcissism was predicted by indicators reflecting early social-evaluative concerns, whereas self-esteem was predicted by indicators reflecting an early sense of comfort in social-evaluative contexts. Furthermore, a study on parents' praise revealed that inflated praise predicted lower self-esteem in children, which is in line with the self-deflation hypothesis, stating that inflated praise sets unattainable standards (Brummelman et al., 2017). However, parents' inflated praise predicted higher narcissism-but only in children with high self-esteem (self-inflation hypothesis). ...
... Thus, a more fine-grained measure of narcissism facilitated the identification of more nuanced findings. It would be interesting to examine the interplay between three facets of narcissism and self-esteem found in previous studies (Brummelman et al., 2017). It has been shown that parents' inflated praise predicted higher narcissism measured with the CNS-but only in children with high self-esteem. ...
Recent advancements in the theory of narcissism emphasize that it is a multidimensional construct with three distinct facets: agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic. Although this model has been extensively studied and supported in adults, there is a lack of instruments assessing the multidimensional structure of narcissism in children. In response to this gap in the literature, we aimed to introduce a new measure of three-dimensional narcissism in children. In three studies among children aged between 8 and 10 years ( N = 189, N = 235, N = 163), we successfully supported the presence of the three-factor structure of narcissism. In addition, we identified respectable reliability and validity for the new measure. Agentic narcissism positively correlated with self-enhancement values, agentic attributes, and self-esteem. Neurotic narcissism was negatively correlated with self-esteem. Finally, antagonistic narcissism was negatively associated with self-transcendence values and positively with self-enhancement values. In conclusion, we propose a 12-item measure distinguishing agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism in children.
... Regarding parental feedback for children's behavior, both parenting styles lead to similar consequences: The child lacks the ability to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of their own actions and is unable to experience appropriate levels of frustration 14 as well as to form a realistic perception of themselves 13,15 . The empirical evidence for either strand, however, is rather heterogeneous [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] and inherently stems from retrospective, epidemiological, and longitudinal studies 8 : Retrospective studies link self-assessment measures of individuals' retrospective perceptions of their parents' characteristics with narcissism-related measures (e.g., association between parental maltreatment and narcissism 21 ). Epidemiological studies assess narcissism-related scores in large samples across multiple groups and examine the relationship between distinct group or cultural characteristics and narcissism scores (e.g., comparison of narcissism-expression between East and West Germany 22 ). ...
... According to the different etiological theories, an inflated, unrealistic self-view in narcissism may evolve from diverging learning experiences. Parents' excessive overvaluation or detached indifference shape the child's selfview and expectation of others' behavior 9,17 . In an overvaluing environment, the self-view corresponds to the learned expectations from the environment ("I am simply the best."). ...
Grandiose narcissism is characterized by ambivalent interaction behavior (i.e., grandiose self-presentation and rivalrous devaluation of others) and strong oscillations in self-esteem over time. In the light of emotional and social problems associated with these self-esteem regulation patterns and the increasing prevalence of narcissistic tendencies, causal and formalized models for prevention and intervention are needed. Here, we present a computational model of narcissistic self-esteem regulation implementing established, verbal theories of narcissism to identify key etiological and disorder-maintaining mechanisms. Across four studies, we show that parental praise and overvaluation lead to typical grandiose-narcissistic behavioral patterns (i.e., entitled self-presentation and rivalry) and strong self-esteem oscillations. Underlying these phenomena, we identify two maintaining mechanisms that offer targets for intervention and empirical falsification: tolerance development, characterized by an ever-increasing desire for social recognition, and a vicious cycle of rivalry, characterized by the frequent use of other-devaluing behavior and massive drops in self-esteem.
... Adding only a single adjective (e.g., "wonderful") or adverb (e.g., "extremely") to a praise statement is sufficient to inflate it (Brummelman et al., 2014). Adults have been found to give inflated praise to children they perceive as having low self-esteem, which is likely because adults believe that praise raises children's self-esteem (Brummelman et al., 2017). ...
... From the perspective of educators, praise is a powerful, albeit risky, tool. Although adults might enjoy increased compliance and prosocial behaviors (Drake & Nelson, 2021;Sutherland et al., 2000), they risk sacrificing children's learning outcomes, concepts of self-worth, and motivational frameworks in the process (Brummelman et al., 2017;Gunderson et al., 2013;Lee et al., 2017;Noltemeyer et al., 2019). Furthermore, extrapolating from the research with classroom teachers, SLPs committed to using praise as a behavior management tool need to commit to a very high rate of praise (i.e., more than one praise statement every 2 min; Floress et al., 2018). ...
Purpose
Speech-language pathologists often use praise during intervention to encourage children and manage behaviors. Praise is often believed to promote improved performance. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that praise leads to improved performance, especially during language intervention provided during therapy sessions. Given the widespread use of praise, it is important for speech-language pathologists to understand the forms and functions of praise, as well as the potential impacts of praise on language learning outcomes. The purpose of this tutorial is to encourage speech-language pathologists to reflect upon and critique their own use of praise in language learning interventions.
Method
The forms and functions of praise are reviewed, followed by a discussion of the role of praise in language interventions. Alternatives to praise are discussed.
Conclusion
This tutorial provides a comprehensive review of the forms and functions of praise and offers speech-language pathologists alternatives that are more likely to improve language learning outcomes.
... Parents who adhere to an intensive parenting ideology may also hold the belief that their child merits special treatment and attention (Brummelman et al., 2017;Twenge & Campbell, 2009). Parental overvaluation refers to a parent's belief that their child is superior to others, a tendency to overestimate their child's capacities, and therefore is entitled to privileges (Brummelman et al., 2015;Brummelman & Sedikides, 2020). ...
... Further, the APIM exploring the relationship between pressure and overvaluation also provided evidence for actor-oriented patterns, but only among fathers. As they experience pressure to be a perfect parent, fathers thus seem to hold the belief that their child is outstanding and deserves special attention (Brummelman et al., 2017;Twenge & Campbell, 2009). In line with these results, a study of middle-to upper-class fathers in India particularly highlighted how fathers directly associate their involvement as fathers with their child's success (Sriram & Sandhu, 2013). ...
In many Western countries, the ideology of intensive parenting has gained prominence in the discourse of experts, policymakers, and within popular culture. This ideology emphasizes deep parental involvement in emotional, physical, and financial aspects (Lee et al., 2014). Meeting these demanding standards can exert significant pressure on parents, especially on mothers often considered as the primary caregiver. Moreover, these pressures may prompt parents to be highly, and potentially overly, involved in their children’s lives. Using data from 146 parent dyads (N = 292 parents; Mage = 47.57 years) of Swiss adolescents, the study explores parental perceptions of pressure to be a perfect parent and its association with one positive (responsiveness) and two negative types of involvement (overprotection and overvaluation). Thereby, we estimated Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIM) to examine mutual influences between mothers and fathers. The results indicated that mothers reported experiencing significantly more pressure than fathers. We found evidence for a positive association between perceptions of pressure and parental overprotection among both parents. The results also showed that there was a significant association between feelings of pressure and overvaluation, but only among fathers. Associations between pressure and responsiveness were not significant, and no significant partner effects were observed in any of the models. In conclusion, mothers particularly face heightened pressure to be perfect parents, but both parents may adapt their parenting strategies in response to perceived pressure to be perfect as a parent. These findings highlight the potential issues associated with societal pressures on parents and their impact on parenting behavior.
... Yet, some argue that contextually appropriate praise can more effectively improve individual behavior. Previous research on the impact of praise on individual behavior has mainly focused on variables such as motivation [11,12] and self-evaluation [10,13], with a less direct study on the role of praise in resolving conflicts between individual and mutual interests. Despite the scarcity of research, praise may be an important and effective means of resolving conflict problems. ...
... The dual impact of praise within a group setting raises intriguing questions about the underlying psychological processes. The variance in response can stem from individual differences in self-esteem, perceived sincerity of the praise, and social comparison effects [13]. Individuals with high self-esteem may respond positively to praise, seeing it as reinforcement of their self-view, while those with lower self-esteem may question the praise's authenticity, leading to negative effects. ...
Previous research has primarily focused on static factors influencing cooperative behavior in social dilemmas, with less attention given to dynamic factors within group social interactions, such as positive feedback received during interactions, i.e., praise. This study, through a between-subjects online experiment with a single-factor, two-level design (praise: public praise/no praise), investigates the impact of praise on cooperative behavior changes across two rounds of a three-player public goods problem. Results revealed the following: (1) A positive correlation between individuals’ contributions across two rounds and a negative correlation with the number of correct answers in rule comprehension questions were evident; for men, a correlation between rule comprehension and first-round contributions was observed. (2) Multilevel model results showed that praise, role, and rule comprehension significantly positively affected contribution changes across two rounds; gender did not significantly affect contribution changes. Specifically, under public-praise conditions, contribution changes were greater. Publicly praised individuals showed positive or negative behavior changes, while those not praised in the same group showed positive changes. Men contributed significantly more in the first round than women, with no gender difference found in contribution changes. Rule comprehension positively predicted contribution changes, indicating that more correct answers led to greater positive changes in contributions. These results not only support the inferential social learning perspective, suggesting that through praise, individuals can infer external world perceptions and self-evaluations, affecting both the praised (positively or negatively) and positively influencing non-praised individuals in the same group, but also provide a theoretical basis and intervention strategies for team and organizational management in groups.
... Moreover, inflated praise may be perceived as inappropriate or untrue, and is likely to be inconsistent with students' beliefs about themselves (Henderlong & Lepper, 2002). Consequently, inflated praise may be rejected by students and can even reduce their self-esteem in the long run (Brummelman et al., 2017). ...
... They were informed that their answers should be short (1-2 sentences) and spontaneous. Inflated praise was defined as use of words or expressions that seem exaggerated and go beyond "normal" praise, such as "incredible" or "I'm speechless" (see Brummelman et al., 2014Brummelman et al., , 2017. For each answer, we counted the number of overly positive expressions. ...
Students' belief that abilities are unchangeable (fixed mindset) can hamper learning. Teachers should thus be able to recognize such problematic beliefs. We explored whether teachers' skills to notice stu- dents' fixed mindset were related to teachers' knowledge about learners' beliefs, teachers' mindset, and their experience. Our sample included pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers (N 1⁄4 112). Noticing (i.e., attending and interpreting) was measured with text scenarios. Results indicate that knowledge supported noticing, especially interpreting, whereas teachers’ growth mindset was unrelated to noticing. Experience was associated with less declarative knowledge and, in turn, with less noticing.
... Child self-esteem is an important determinant of child psychosocial functioning; higher child self-esteem is intimately tied to a number of key developmental outcomes, including better mental health (Sowislo & Orth, 2013), higher resilience to stress (Rector & Roger, 1997), higher levels of well-being (e.g., higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction, Baiocco et al., 2018), more prosocial behaviors (Fu et al., 2017), overall better interpersonal outcomes (Cameron & Granger, 2019) and higher school performance (though for a critical review, see Baumeister et al., 2003). As such and particularly in Western countries where interventions aiming to foster child self-esteem are widely implemented since the 1970s, low child self-esteem is commonly seen by adults as a pervasive and worrisome problem that needs to be addressed (Brummelman et al., 2017). Coherently, programs aiming to improve selfesteem typically include adult praise as one of their main components (O'Mara et al., 2006). ...
... For instance, research suggests that praise can have a delayed effect on children (e.g., by influencing their level of persistence in a subsequent task when they encounter failure; Mueller & Dweck, 1998). Longitudinal research also suggests that parental praise can predict child self-esteem later in time (Brummelman et al., 2017). Examining whether such findings hold with descriptive praise would be relevant as it would shed light on the different ways through which this praise type may affect children. ...
Praise may have different effects on child self-esteem, depending on its informational and evaluative value. In this multiphase, multimethod investigation, we assessed the interplaying role of two outcome-oriented praises that differed in their informational and evaluative value (i.e., descriptive and non-specific praise) on indicators of child self-esteem. In phase 177 mothers reported on their usage of descriptive and non-specific praise, while their child (M = 10.09 years old) reported on their level of self-esteem. In phase 2, a subsample of 43 children completed an experimental art task during which an experimenter offered either descriptive or non-specific praise. Children then rated their competence at that task. Results from phase 1 showed that mother usage of descriptive and non-specific praise interacted to predict child self-esteem. Specifically, the relation between descriptive praise and child self-esteem was positive (vs. non-significant) when mothers used moderate to high (vs. low) amounts of non-specific praise. Furthermore, the relation between non-specific praise and child self-esteem was negative (vs. non-significant) when mothers used low (vs. moderate to high) levels of descriptive praise. Results from phase 2 showed that differences between descriptive and non-specific praise conditions emerged on child perceived competence for children reporting lower (but not higher) global self-esteem. Specifically, children with lower global self-esteem rated themselves as more competent when given descriptive (rather than non-specific) praise. Results underlie the relevance of including descriptive elements when offering outcome-oriented praise to children. They also advance the field by identifying different ways to offer outcome-oriented praise.
... Moreover, inflated praise may be perceived as inappropriate or untrue, and is likely to be inconsistent with students' beliefs about themselves (Henderlong & Lepper, 2002). Consequently, inflated praise may be rejected by students and can even reduce their self-esteem in the long run (Brummelman et al., 2017). ...
... They were informed that their answers should be short (1-2 sentences) and spontaneous. Inflated praise was defined as use of words or expressions that seem exaggerated and go beyond "normal" praise, such as "incredible" or "I'm speechless" (see Brummelman et al., 2014Brummelman et al., , 2017. For each answer, we counted the number of overly positive expressions. ...
Teachers often provide more positive feedback to ethnic minority students than to ethnic majority students in order to compensate for potential discrimination. However, even feedback that sounds positive can have unwanted effects on the students, such as reinforcing negative beliefs and reducing motivation. In this experimental pilot study, we investigated whether teachers were more likely to convey such dysfunctional feedback to students from immigrant backgrounds than to students from non-immigrant backgrounds. Teachers ( N = 186) read descriptions of classroom situations and indicated the feedback they would provide to the fictive students. The students’ names implied either an immigrant background associated with low competence stereotypes or no immigrant background. For the most part, feedback did not differ according to immigrant status. Yet, there were some situation-specific differences: When immigrant students failed despite effort, teachers used a simpler language in their feedback. In one of two scenarios describing students who succeeded easily without effort, teachers were more likely to provide dysfunctional ability feedback, dysfunctional effort feedback, and inflated praise to a student from an immigrant background than to a student from a non-immigrant background. A subsequent expert survey ( N = 12) was conducted to evaluate the scenario-based feedback test. In sum, the study contributes to the field by providing first signs that students from immigrant backgrounds might be at risk of receiving not only more positive but actually more dysfunctional feedback. Furthermore, the study presents a practice-oriented, standardized, and economic instrument to assess teachers’ dysfunctional feedback, which may be used in future research.
... Thus, prevention strategies are required at all levels, including the individual, family, school, and society levels. Since praise influences selfesteem (2,3), which is associated with depression (4), praising could prevent depressive symptoms in adolescents. An empirical research showed that parental verbal affection associated with well-being in late adolescence (5). ...
... The manner and content of praise influences the self-esteem and positive attitude of adolescents. Overly positive and inflated praise has been suggested to lower self-esteem in children (3). It was also suggested that person-focused but not processfocused praise leads children to avoid challenges in school (7). ...
Background
Depression is highly prevalent and causes a heavy burden in adolescent life. Being praised for prosocial behavior might be a preventive factor because both being praised and prosocial behavior are protective against depression. Here, we investigated the longitudinal relationship between being praised for prosocial behavior and depressive symptoms in adolescents.
Methods
In Tokyo Teen Cohort study (TTC), an ongoing prospective population-based cohort study, we collected 3,171 adolescents' data on self-reported experiences of being praised for prosocial behavior, depressive symptoms, and caregiver-evaluated prosocial behavior. Ten-year-old children were asked to freely describe answers to the question “What are you praised for?”. Only children who clearly answered that they were praised for their prosocial behavior were designated the “prosocial praise group.” The degree of depression at ages 10 and 12 was measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ), a self-report questionnaire about depression. Objective prosocial behavior of the 10 year-old children was assessed by the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed using the SMFQ score at age 12 as the objective variable and being praised for prosocial behavior as the main explanatory variable, and the SMFQ score at age 10 and the objective prosocial behavior at age 10 were included as confounders.
Results
Depressive symptoms (SMFQ scores) in the “prosocial praise group” were significantly lower than those in the other group both at age 10 (4.3 ± 4.4 vs. 4.9 ± 4.6, p < 0.001) and at age 12 (3.4 ± 4.2 vs. 4.0 ± 4.6, p < 0.01). In the single regression analysis, the children who reported being praised for prosocial behavior at age 10 had significantly lower depressive symptoms at age 12 (partial regression variable: −0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) [−0.96, −0.17]). This association remained significant after adjusting for confounders, including baseline depressive symptoms (partial regression variable: −0.44, 95% CI [−0.80, −0.08]). Prosocial behavior alone was not associated with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
Being praised for prosocial behavior rather than objective prosocial behavior at 10 years of age predicted lower depressive symptoms 2 years later. Praise for adolescents' prosocial behavior can be encouraged to prevent depression.
... We defined praise as positive evaluations of the child's traits, actions, or products 13,22 . Praise is inflated when it contains an adverb (e.g., incredibly) or adjective (e.g., amazing) signaling a very positive evaluation 19,20 . Before the child reached the 30 th trial, the parent entered the room. ...
... Familiar statements are more likely to be accepted as true 57,58 , so if children with lower levels of self-esteem often receive modest praise from their parents in everyday life, they might be more likely to accept such praise as true, giving them the self-confidence they need to explore. Challenging this interpretation, research shows that children with lower levels of self-esteem tend to receive more inflated praise-not more modest praise-from their parents 19,20 . Another alternative explanation is that children with lower levels of self-esteem perceive modest praise as more accurate or warranted. ...
When children practice a new skill and fail, it is critical for them to explore new strategies to succeed. How can parents encourage children’s exploration? Bridging insights from developmental psychology and the neuroscience of motor control, we examined the effects of parental praise on children’s motor exploration. We theorize that modest praise can spark exploration. Unlike inflated praise, modest praise acknowledges children’s performance, without setting a high standard for future performance. This may be reassuring to children with lower levels of self-esteem, who often doubt their ability. We conducted a novel virtual-reality experiment. Children (N = 202, ages 8–12) reported self-esteem and performed a virtual-reality 3D trajectory-matching task, with success/failure feedback after each trial. Children received modest praise (“You did well!”), inflated praise (“You did incredibly well!”), or no praise from their parent. We measured motor exploration as children’s tendency to vary their movements following failure. Relative to no praise, modest praise—unlike inflated praise—encouraged exploration in children with lower levels of self-esteem. By contrast, modest praise discouraged exploration in children with higher levels of self-esteem. Effects were small yet robust. This experiment demonstrates that modest praise can spark exploration in children with lower levels of self-esteem.
... Thus, prevention strategies are required at all levels, including the individual, family, school, and society levels. Since praise in uences self-esteem (2,3), which is associated with depression (4), praising could prevent depressive symptoms in adolescents. ...
... The manner and content of praise in uences the self-esteem and positive attitude of adolescents. Overly positive and in ated praise has been suggested to lower self-esteem in children (3). It was also suggested that person-focused but not process-focused praise leads children to avoid challenges in school (5). ...
Background: Depression is highly prevalent and causes a heavy burden in adolescent life. Being praised for prosocial behavior might be a preventive factor because both being praised and prosocial behavior are protective against depression. Here, we investigated the longitudinal relationship between being praised for prosocial behavior and depressive symptoms in adolescents.
Methods: In Tokyo Teen Cohort study (TTC), an ongoing prospective population-based cohort study, we collected 3,171 adolescents’ data on self-reported experiences of being praised for prosocial behavior, depressive symptoms, and caregiver-evaluated prosocial behavior. Ten-year-old children were asked to freely describe answers to the question “What are you praised for?”. Only children who clearly answered that they were praised for their prosocial behavior were designated the “prosocial praise group”. The degree of depression at ages 10 and 12 was measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ), a self-report questionnaire about depression. Objective prosocial behavior of the 10-year-old children was assessed by the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed using the SMFQ score at age 12 as the objective variable and being praised for prosocial behavior as the main explanatory variable, and the SMFQ score at age 10 and the objective prosocial behavior at age 10 were included as confounders.
Results: Depressive symptoms (SMFQ scores) in the “prosocial praise group” were significantly lower than those in the other group both at age 10 (4.3 ± 4.4 vs 4.9 ± 4.6, p <0.001) and at age (3.4 ± 4.2 vs 4.0 ± 4.6, p <0.01). In the single regression analysis, the children who reported being praised for prosocial behavior at age 10 had significantly lower depressive symptoms at age 12 (partial regression variable: -0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-0.96, -0.17]). This association remained significant after adjusting for confounders, including baseline depressive symptoms (partial regression variable: -0.44, 95% CI [-0.80, -0.08]). Prosocial behavior alone was not associated with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions: Being praised for prosocial behavior rather than objective prosocial behavior at 10 years of age predicted lower depressive symptoms two years later. Praise for adolescents’ prosocial behavior can be encouraged to prevent depression.
... Brummelman et al. [4] assessed how praise inflation potentially affects a child's self-esteem. Previous research has found that parents in Western societies often overly praise their children to promote self-esteem. ...
... Brummelman et al. [4] assessed whether parents delivered more person-praise for children with low self-esteem and if this would cause negative effects, such as experiencing higher levels of shame. Previous research has found there are distinguishable effects between person-praise and processpraise. ...
... This statistical approach is often used in literature on the persistence or maintenance of developmental psychopathology. For example, it has been used to examine why some children and adolescents, compared to their peers, continue to be anxious and depressed (Blake et al., 2024), low in self-esteem (Brummelman et al., 2017), socially withdrawn (Nelson et al., 2016), victimized by peers (Cooley et al., 2018), or in conflictual relationships (Van Lissa et al., 2017). What makes this approach unique is that it relies on two or more assessments of the same variable over time, while examining mechanisms (i.e., mediators) that can explain why an initial assessment of this variable predicts a subsequent assessment. ...
Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by a sense of being more important and entitled than others. Narcissism is high in adolescence and puts adolescents at risk of psychopathology and problematic social relationships. Why is narcissism persistent in adolescence? Bridging insights from developmental, clinical, social, and personality psychology, we examined whether adolescents (ages 11–15) high in narcissism maintain narcissism through downward social comparisons (e.g., “I am better than my classmates”), not downward temporal comparisons (e.g., “I am better now than when I was younger”). A cross-sectional study ( N = 382, 97% Dutch) showed that adolescents higher in narcissism made more downward social and temporal comparisons. In a longitudinal study ( N = 389, 99% Dutch), we assessed adolescents’ narcissism levels at the beginning of the school year and at 3-month follow-up. In-between, we captured adolescents’ comparisons through daily diary assessments. Adolescents higher in narcissism made more downward social and temporal comparisons. Downward social – but not temporal – comparisons partially mediated the 3-month stability of narcissism. In both studies, self-esteem was unrelated to downward comparisons. Thus, downward social – but not temporal – comparisons contribute to the maintenance of adolescent narcissism, and these comparisons constitute a potentially malleable developmental mechanism to curtail narcissism.
... For instance, positive experiences tend to elevate individuals' selfconfidence, whereas failures can result in a decline in self-esteem. Brummelman et al. (2017) showed that parents' excessive praise towards their children may negatively affect children's self-confidence and this may reduce children's intrinsic motivation. In this context, the development of self-confidence is also shaped by the feedback individuals receive from their environment. ...
This study aimed to examine the relationship between motivational determination and self-confidence among university students. The study was conducted on 274 volunteer students studying at the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Sport Sciences; 120 of these participants were female (43.8%) and 154 were male (56.2%). Motivational Determination Scale, Self-Confidence Scale and Personal Information Form were used in the data collection process. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 25.00 for Windows software. Before the analysis, whether the variables were normally distributed was evaluated using skewness and kurtosis values. Descriptive statistics, T-Test and Pearson Correlation Coefficient were applied in data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that motivational determination does not show a significant difference in terms of gender, but the scores obtained from the self-confidence scale differ according to gender and this difference is in favor of women. In addition, a significant, positive and moderate relationship was found between the total score of the motivational determination scale and its sub-dimensions (pursuing long-term goals, pursuing current goals, pursuing unattainable goals) and self-confidence. The findings were discussed and evaluated with the existing literature.
... (10) Affirm the child's praiseworthy behaviour and talent without inflated praise (Brookhart, 2008;Brummelman et al., 2017). ...
Self‐concept is a precursor to a spectrum of mental, emotional and behavioural challenges, exerting a profound influence on how children perceive themselves, interact with their peers, navigate the educational landscape, and respond to life events. A learning disability is likely to negatively impact self‐concept development, rendering children with learning disability particularly vulnerable to its detrimental effects. Addressing negative self‐concept in school settings and providing appropriate support to students, especially those with learning disabilities, is a potentially effective way to mitigate the long‐term risks of mental health, emotion regulation and behavioural problems. One powerful tool at teachers' disposal is verbal communication that is free from threat or judgement, characterized by empathetic and appreciative tones that convey goodwill and acceptance. This paper offers practical guidance to teachers on using language endowed with distinct semantic nuances and pragmatic choices, with the potential to significantly enhance children's self‐concept and promote their overall healthy development.
... Evaluation-based language involved a judgment by the crisis counselor about whether an aspect of the help-seekers' experiences was good (eg, behavior worthy of praise) or bad (eg, an apology for something that happened to the help-seeker). Evaluation and judgment are generally not a part of helping relationships [48,60,61] but are quite common when adults speak with children [57,62]. Although these approaches are not generally part of counseling relationships, there is nothing inherently wrong with using them intentionally. ...
Background
Building therapeutic relationships and social presence are challenging in digital services and maybe even more difficult in written services. Despite these difficulties, in-person care may not be feasible or accessible in all situations.
Objective
This study aims to categorize crisis counselors’ efforts to build rapport in written conversations by using deidentified conversation transcripts from the text and chat arms of the National Child Abuse Hotline. Using these categories, we identify the common characteristics of successful conversations. We defined success as conversations where help-seekers reported the hotline was a good way to seek help and that they were a lot more hopeful, a lot more informed, a lot more prepared to address the situation, and experiencing less stress, as reported by help-seekers.
Methods
The sample consisted of transcripts from 314 purposely selected conversations from of the 1153 text and chat conversations during July 2020. Hotline users answered a preconversation survey (ie, demographics) and a postconversation survey (ie, their perceptions of the conversation). We used qualitative content analysis to process the conversations.
Results
Active listening skills, including asking questions, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, and interpreting situations, were commonly used by counselors. Validation, unconditional positive regard, and evaluation-based language, such as praise and apologies, were also often used. Compared with less successful conversations, successful conversations tended to include fewer statements that attend to the emotional dynamics. There were qualitative differences in how the counselors applied these approaches. Generally, crisis counselors in positive conversations tended to be more specific and tailor their comments to the situation.
Conclusions
Building therapeutic relationships and social presence are essential to digital interventions involving mental health professionals. Prior research demonstrates that they can be challenging to develop in written conversations. Our work demonstrates characteristics associated with successful conversations that could be adopted in other written help-seeking interventions.
... This paper focuses on 3 particular skills. The first is praise: praising a child's successes is an important part of building self-esteem, but vague praise of children with low self-esteem or, worse, backhanded praise, can damage the parent-child relationship [11]. The second is mindfulness: learning to calm raised emotions is a valuable skill for children with behavior problems, but there is a limited emotional window where children are responsive to mindfulness [12]. ...
Background
Disruptive behavior disorders are among the most common disorders of childhood, and evidence-based parenting programs are the first-line treatment. Digital microinterventions have been proposed as one possible means of supporting parenting style change by giving parents in-the-moment advice about how to respond to challenging behavior. Until now, no digital microintervention supporting evidence-based parenting skills programs has been evaluated.
Objective
The aim of this study is to evaluate the subjective experience of parents using a digital microintervention to support evidence-based parenting skills, with particular attention to acceptability, usability, family relationships, and parents’ values.
Methods
We conducted serial interviews with 11 parents of 33 children before and after spending 3 weeks using an app including 3 digital microinterventions. Parents were recruited via local authorities in the Midlands region of the United Kingdom. Previous participation in a parenting program was an inclusion criterion. Interviews explored family composition; child behavior problems; and experience of using the mobile app, including barriers to use. Thematic analysis was conducted from a user-centered design perspective, and illustrative case vignettes were produced.
Results
Many parents used the app in ways that helped them rather than strictly following the instructions they were given. Parents described a range of barriers to using the app including practical problems and failure to change child behavior. Parents and children responded in a variety of ways to the use of the phone, with many wholeheartedly embracing the convenience of technology. Case vignettes illustrate the uniqueness of each family’s experience.
Conclusions
Parents’ use of a mobile app supporting evidence-based parenting skills is difficult to predict due to the unique challenges each family encounters. Many parents found it an acceptable and helpful addition to family life, but increased personalization is likely to be key to supporting parents. Future digital microintervention developers should keep in mind that parents are likely to use the app pragmatically rather than following instructions, may struggle to use a complex app under pressure, and are likely to hold complex feelings about parenting with an app.
... Recently, catchphrases such as "push kids to succeed" and "tiger mother" have become widespread, reflecting parents' heightened worry for their children's studies and anxiety that their children may fall behind in their education. This phenomenon has triggered attention in researchers on parenting related to children's learning, such as praise and parental responses to children's performance [1,2]. Parents' response refers to parents' reactions to the success or failure of their children's performance [2,3]. ...
The current study examined the psychological mechanism that underlies the relationship between parents’ response style and children’s subjective well-being and its boundary conditions, the mediating role of the parent–child relationship, and the moderating role of friendship quality. Using the Parents’ Responses to Children’s Performance Scale, the Buchanan Scale of Closeness to Parents, the Friendship Quality Questionnaire, and the Campbell Index of Well-being, our study investigated 686 pupils who were randomly selected from three public schools in central China. Employing Mplus 8.3 for pathway analysis, we found the following results: Failure-oriented responses negatively predict children’s subjective well-being (β = −0.16, p < 0.001), while success-oriented responses positively predict children’s subjective well-being (β = 0.13, p < 0.01). Both failure-oriented (ab = 0.18, SE = 0.03, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.25]) and success-oriented responses (ab = −0.10, SE = 0.02, 95% CI = [−0.14, −0.06]) predict children’s subjective well-being through the mediating effect of the parent–child relationship. Friendship quality has a moderating effect on the mediating path (β = −0.09, p < 0.05), such that when friendship quality is lower, the parent–child relationship has a higher mediating effect between the parents’ responses and children’s subjective well-being. This study offers empirical evidence that parents’ responses to children’s performance significantly contribute to children’s subjective well-being. Moreover, it offers actionable insights for enhancing children’s subjective well-being. The enhancement could be achieved by fostering positive parent–child relationships and enhancing the quality of children’s friendships, thereby positively impacting their well-being.
... As the primary communicative agents for children, parents hold the potential to influence and even mold their children's behaviors and emotions through language and conduct (Bornstein, 2006;Stiles et al., 2020). Parental responses to their children's performances have had a substantial impact on their children's psychological functioning (Barger et al., 2022;Brummelman et al., 2017). The interaction and communication between parents and children can impact the development of children's abilities, including emotional regulation and social adaptation (Parke & Buriel, 2007). ...
In contrast to cognitive outcomes, parental success‐oriented responses to children's performance enhanced the emotional well‐being of children. Conversely, parental failure‐oriented responses had the opposite impact. Thus, it remains unclear which response or combination of responses parents should employ to maximize their children's development. This research aimed to examine the combined effect of children's perceptions of parental success‐ and failure‐oriented responses on children's depression, with a focus on the mediating role of resilience. A total of 651 pupils (44.7% female, M age = 10.31, range = 8–12) were investigated in China using polynomial regression and response surface analyses. Our findings suggest that when success‐ and failure‐oriented responses are congruent, failure‐oriented responses counteract the protective effect of success‐oriented responses against children's depression. The two equally matched responses demonstrated a curvilinear main effect on resilience, indicating that higher resilience was associated with the upper–middle range of the two responses. Moreover, children who reported more success‐oriented responses than failure‐oriented responses showed greater resilience and decreased depression. Resilience acted as a mediator for the combined effects of parental success and failure‐oriented responses on children's depression. The study addressed the parenting dilemma, specifically the trade‐off between success‐ and failure‐oriented responses in promoting children's optimal development.
... However, praise comes in different shapes and sizes. While most praise is modest,~25% of praise is inflated 16,17 . Instead of telling students that they did well, teachers might tell them that they did incredibly well. ...
Can teachers’ inflated praise make children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds seem less smart? We conducted two preregistered experiments to address this question. We used hypothetical scenarios to ensure experimental control. An experiment with primary school teachers ( N = 106, ages 21–63) showed that when a child from a low-SES (vs. high-SES) background succeeded in school, teachers attributed this success more to hard work and delivered more inflated praise (e.g., “You did incredibly well!”) but less modest praise (e.g., “You did well!”). An experiment with primary school children ( N = 63, ages 10–13) showed that when children learned that another child received inflated praise (while an equally performing classmate received modest praise or no praise), they perceived this child as less smart but more hardworking. These studies provide converging evidence that teachers’ inflated praise, although well-intentioned, can make children from low-SES backgrounds seem less smart, thereby reinforcing negative stereotypes about these children’s academic abilities.
... An alternative to praise is recognition and encouragement of specific behavior that is cognitively, socially, or emotionally enhancing. When stated as positive affirmations, words of encouragement can help to nurture self-esteem (Brummelman et al., 2017;Hester et al., 2009;Jenkins et al., 2015;Porter, 2020;Zentall & Morris, 2010. ...
This chapter addresses the association between nurturing prosocial classroom behavior in young children, literacy, and income inequality. Literacy will be explored as it relates to social competence in the classroom as influenced by income inequity. One highlighted area of importance is a play-based, child-focused environment that is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of the whole child. Socioeconomic disparities in literacy skills have been increasing over the past 40 years. This subject must be addressed in order to effectively meet the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of each individual child. Literacy skills are developed during early childhood. It is also the case that limited literacy during early childhood increases the risk of children displaying aggressive behavior at school as they progress to higher grades. For these reasons, tackling the problem during the early years with developmentally appropriate adult-child interventions are what is needed to reverse the trends placing an increasing number of young children at-risk of academic underachievement.
... This is not to deny that praise can have negative value for the praisee, especially when it is (perceived to be) inflated. See Farson (1963);Kanouse et al. (1981);Brummelman et al. (2017); ...
One way of being responsible for an action is being praiseworthy for it. But what is the “praise” of which the praiseworthy agent is worthy? This paper provides a survey of answers to this question, i.e. a survey of possible accounts of praise’s nature. It then presents an overview of candidate norms governing our responses of praise. By attending to praise’s nature and appropriateness conditions, we stand to acquire a richer conception of what it is to be, and to regard another as, a responsible agent.
... First, and sadly, many people seem to find it quite easy to brush off a compliment and forget about it as the day progresses, whereas a single insult may bother us for the rest of the day, and beyond. Second, whereas the impact of repeated compliments seems to adapt with repetition (just as many other good things do) or can in some cases even have detrimental effects (e.g., Brummelman et al., 2017), repeated insults do not seem to lose their sting. Of course, these are mostly informal observations. ...
Verbal insults go against a universal moral imperative not to inflict harm on others, and they also pose a threat to one's face or reputation. As such, these “verbal slaps in the face” provide a unique opportunity to explore the interface between language and emotion. We used electroencephalography (EEG) and skin conductance (SC) recordings to compare the short-term impact of verbal insults such as “Linda is an idiot” or “Paula is horrible” to that of more positive evaluations (e.g., “Linda is an angel”, “Paula is impressive”) and neutral factual descriptions (e.g., “Linda is a student”), examining how responses to these various speech acts adapt as a function of massive repetition. By using either the participant's or somebody else's name, we also explored how statement impact depended on who was being evaluated. Multilevel ERP analysis with three predesignated latency ranges revealed an early insult effect in P2 amplitude that was highly robust over repetition and also did not depend on who the insult was about. This P2 effect points to a very rapid and stable capture of emotional attention, plausibly triggered by the retrieval of evaluative word meaning from long-term memory. Insults also elicited a larger late positive potential (LPP), again regardless of who the insult was about, but this later effect did not withstand repetition. Skin conductance responses showed that insults did not lead to more arousal than compliments did. In all, our findings suggest that in a standard psycholinguistic comprehension experiment without real interaction between speakers, insults deliver lexical “mini-slaps in the face,” such that the strongly negative evaluative words involved (e.g., “idiot”) automatically grab attention during lexical retrieval, regardless of how often that retrieval occurs.
... Another explanation is that these children, despite fearing social evaluation, experience the performance phase as unambiguously positive, making it less threatening. Indeed, children were introduced in a grandiose way: "Ladies and gentlemen, today we have a special performance by the famous [child's first name], who will sing [name of song]!" Children with high narcissism levels may be used to being praised in inflated ways (Brummelman et al., 2017), and they enjoy being at the center of attention, but only when they experience the attention as unambiguously positive Thomaes et al., 2010). In fact, it is possible that children predisposed to high narcissism levels experienced elevated skin conductance levels during positive social exposure as pleasant and sought to maintain those levels, which would explain why their skin conductance levels did not drop during recovery. ...
A common belief is that narcissism is a manifestation of high self‐esteem. Here, we argue that self‐esteem and narcissism are fundamentally distinct and have unique early physiological indicators. We hypothesized that children predisposed to narcissism would show elevated, whereas children predisposed to high self‐esteem would show lowered, physiological arousal in social‐evaluative contexts. We tested this in a prospective study including 113 children, who were first assessed at age 4.5, a critical age when children begin evaluating themselves through others' eyes. At age 4.5, children sang a song in front of an audience while being videotaped. Children's physiological arousal (skin conductance, heart rate, and heart rate variability) was assessed while children anticipated, performed, and recovered from the singing task. At age 7.5, children's narcissism and self‐esteem levels were assessed. Consistent with our predictions, children predisposed to higher narcissism levels showed elevated skin conductance levels during anticipation. Their skin conductance levels further rose during performance (but less so than for other children) and failed to return to baseline during recovery. By contrast, children predisposed to higher self‐esteem levels showed lowered skin conductance levels throughout the procedure. The effects emerged for skin conductance but not heart rate or heart rate variability, suggesting that arousal was sympathetically driven. Effects were larger and more robust for self‐esteem than for narcissism. Together, these findings uncover distinct physiological indicators of narcissism and self‐esteem: Narcissism is predicted by indicators reflecting early social‐evaluative concerns, whereas self‐esteem is predicted by indicators reflecting an early sense of comfort in social‐evaluative contexts.
... Parental overvaluation predicted increased narcissism (but not self-esteem) in children. In another longitudinal study (Brummelman et al., 2017), parent-child interactions were observed to index parents' inflated praise (e.g., "You did incredibly well!"). Parents gave more inflated praise to children with lower self-esteem, probably seeking to raise their self-esteem. ...
Since the 1960s, self-esteem has become a cornerstone of Western child-rearing. After reviewing a large body of rigorous longitudinal research, Orth and Robins (2022) conclude that self-esteem brings modest but significant benefits across all ages. However, the authors did not intend to suggest strategies for raising children’s self-esteem. The aim of my commentary is to identify such strategies. Without guidance on how to raise children’s self-esteem safely and sustainably, well-intentioned strategies, such as inflated praise, may inadvertently undermine self-esteem or even breed narcissism. Instead, interventions should be based on a theoretically informed and empirically supported understanding of the determinants of self-esteem. By targeting these determinants, interventions may be able to raise children’s self-esteem safely (i.e., without breeding narcissism) and sustainably (i.e., leading to lasting improvements in self-esteem and its presumed outcomes). Evaluating these interventions through randomized controlled trials will help build a theory of when and why self-esteem interventions work. Ultimately, this work will provide nuanced and dependable guidance to parents, teachers, and professionals on how to raise children’s self-esteem.
... They should start with themselves: Whether comparing themselves or their children to others, they should learn to use positive social comparison strategies so as to form a relatively positive motivation and interaction climate for the entire family. To improve the behavioral and educational practices of parents, perhaps some of their beliefs need strengthening first, for instance, their growth mindset (e.g., Justice et al., 2020;Tao et al., 2021), mastery achievement goals (Friedel et al., 2007;Gonida et al., 2007;Kahraman & Sungur-Vural, 2012), and success-oriented responses to their children's performance (Brummelman et al., 2017;Justice et al., 2020). In addition, although our main focus was the parental comparison process occurring in families, future researchers could demonstrate similar associations that may also apply to other educational situations like schools. ...
Based on the theory of social comparison and intergenerational learning, parents’ social comparison, occurring frequently in families during the process of education, may play a critical role in determining their children’s academic adjustment. Few researchers have explored this issue, let alone the multiple types of parent social comparison and their interactive effects. The aim of this research was to identify profiles of parent social comparisons and their links with child social comparisons, academic self-efficacy, and academic self-handicapping, thus addressing the gap and presenting a simplified comprehensive picture of the collaborative effects of parents’ social comparison from a person-centered perspective. A total of 368 adolescents were surveyed. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct profiles in terms of perceived parent social comparisons: indifferent (low all), overwhelmed (high all), positive (high upward identification and downward contrast), and negative (high upward contrast and downward identification). A Bolck–Croon–Hagenaars analysis revealed that adolescents whose parents’ social comparison patterns were perceived as positive reported higher self-efficacy and less self-handicapping, whereas those whose perceptions of parent social comparison patterns were classified as negative reported the reverse. Moreover, adolescents tended to exhibit social comparison types similar to those of their parents. Findings serve as a reminder for parents and educators of the downsides and benefits of various types of social comparison and provide insight into how social comparison transmits via social interaction from an intergenerational perspective.
... An alternative to praise is recognition and encouragement of specific behavior that is cognitively, socially, or emotionally enhancing. When stated as positive affirmations, words of encouragement can help to nurture self-esteem (Brummelman et al., 2017;Hester et al., 2009;Jenkins et al., 2015;Porter, 2020;Zentall & Morris, 2010. ...
This chapter addresses the association between nurturing prosocial classroom behavior in young children, literacy, and income inequality. Literacy will be explored as it relates to social competence in the classroom as influenced by income inequity. One highlighted area of importance is a play-based, child-focused environment that is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of the whole child. Socioeconomic disparities in literacy skills have been increasing over the past 40 years. This subject must be addressed in order to effectively meet the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of each individual child. Literacy skills are developed during early childhood. It is also the case that limited literacy during early childhood increases the risk of children displaying aggressive behavior at school as they progress to higher grades. For these reasons, tackling the problem during the early years with developmentally appropriate adult-child interventions are what is needed to reverse the trends placing an increasing number of young children at-risk of academic underachievement.
... Concerning juvenile delinquents, there were observed problems (e.g., the SDQ), but self-esteem might not be the panacea claimed. Many programs call for extreme praise, such as at the rate of praise to reprimand as high 9:1 (Caldarella et al., 2019), yet many studies suggested praise was either not effective or might be harmful (Brummelman et al., 2017;Lepper et al., 1973;Gneezy et al., 2019;Moore et al., 2019). Other efforts included eliminating grade retention because it was harmful to students (Hughes et al., 2018;Klapproth et al., 2016) and the negative effects of school exclusionary policies in favor of letting students escape meaningful discipline (Anyon et al., 2014;Eyllon et al., 2020) Yet, mantras around grit, self-esteem, growth mindset, and other constructs did not transform students and instill academic and social skills with emotional stability. ...
The validity of the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) in adolescents was not well established, and how self-esteem manifested in newly incarcerated juvenile delinquents was poorly described. Using a retrospective study with archival records, the SISE was compared to other measures of self-esteem, grit, mental health, and academic self-concept in a small juvenile detention center in the Midwest of the United States. Demographic data were analyzed, and a correlation, intraclass correlation, and kappa statistic were run to test relationships and reliability. The SISE was found to be a reliable and efficient tool to use with adolescents and juvenile delinquents. Policy recommendations applicable to juvenile delinquents and schools in general give direction using the findings.
... The self-inflation hypothesis states that the over-admiration of a child makes him perceive, how others look at them. The processes of having a sense of superiority lead to narcissism [16]. ...
Parents play an important role in the mental development of a child. In our previous work, we addressed how a narcissistic parent influences a child (online/offline) when (s)he is happy and admires the child. Now, we address the influence of a parent who is not so much pleased, and may curse the child for being the reason for his or her unhappiness. An abusive relationship with a parent can also cause trauma and poor mental health of the child. We also address how certain coping behaviors can help the child cope with such a situation. Therefore, the aim of the study is threefold. We present an adaptive agent model of a child, while incorporating the concept of mirroring through social contagion, the avoidance behaviors from a child, and the effects of regulation strategies to cope with stressful situations.
Background and Objective: This paper posits that market-oriented economies foster narcissistic behavior due to their focus on profit, private ownership, competition, and free markets. The research presented demonstrates that while overall levels of narcissism remain stable, certain political groups and leaders exhibit higher levels of narcissism compared to the general population. Due to the visibility and attention-seeking nature of narcissistic individuals, values such as self-promotion, prioritizing personal gain, blame-shifting, diminishing others, and populist rhetoric become normalized. These trends contribute to right-wing populism, social injustice, and climate change denial. The paper elaborates on the dynamics of narcissism and the use of gaslighting as a manipulation tactic to scapegoat particularly vulnerable societal groups and the field of Social Work itself. Conclusions will be substantiated with examples from politics and business, highlighting the risks posed by narcissistic leaders. The article aims to offer a framework for understanding the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and the USA, which may hinder progress towards a socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable society.
There is a lack of research on young children’s strengths, likely in part due to limited tools available to identify individual strengths in early childhood. To help address this gap and provide a brief measure for parents, researchers, and practitioners, the 37-item Preschool Strengths Inventory (PSI) was developed. First, focus groups with parents were conducted to identify strengths in early childhood. Based on the results of the focus groups and a review of the research, items were developed, reviewed by experts, and tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The five factors identified were: Dynamic, Dependable, Caring, Inspiring, and Organized. Lastly, validity was tested and established with measures of personality traits and social skills, and the PSI’s test–retest reliability was examined. Results provide support for the content structure, reliability, and validity of the PSI. The PSI can provide the ability to study strengths beginning early in life and provide a foundation to develop strengths-focused interventions.
How group members’ perceptions of each other’s actions influence cooperative behaviour over time remains
uncertain. This study explored the effects of praise (praise content and agency) on cooperation in a twoplayer
public goods game through one pilot experiment and three experiments. The results indicated that both
process-focused and person-focused praise enhanced cooperative behaviours. Notably, participants exhibited
higher levels of cooperation under process-focused praise compared to person-focused praise. Additionally, the
act of expressing praise led to more cooperative behaviour than merely receiving praise or no praise at all.
Overall, these findings underscore the efficacy of process-focused praise in promoting cooperation, with the
expression of praise proving more effective than its reception. These insights suggest practical applications in
organizational and educational settings, where implementing strategies that emphasize process-focused praise
and encourage the active expression of appreciation could significantly enhance cooperative dynamics and
team performance.
Background and Objective: This paper posits that market-oriented economies foster narcissistic behavior due to their focus on profit, private ownership, competition, and free markets. The research presented demonstrates that while overall levels of narcissism remain stable, certain political groups and leaders exhibit higher levels of narcissism compared to the general population. Due to the visibility and attention-seeking nature of narcissistic individuals, values such as self-promotion, prioritizing personal gain, blame-shifting, diminishing others, and populist rhetoric become normalized. These trends contribute to right-wing populism, social injustice, and climate change denial. The paper elaborates on the dynamics of narcissism and the use of gaslighting as a manipulation tactic to scapegoat particularly vulnerable societal groups and the field of Social Work itself. Conclusions will be substantiated with examples from politics and business, highlighting the risks posed by narcissistic leaders. The article aims to offer a framework for understanding the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and the USA, which may hinder progress towards a socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable society.
The existing literature recognizes issues on the lack of soft skills and mastery of technology among tourism vocational high school graduates because of the absence of humanistic learning and technological approaches at schools. However, these studies could not capture teachers’ and students’ rich and nuanced experiences in their classrooms. This research investigates the reality of humanistic learning and technological approaches in tourism vocational high schools in Indonesia. By employing a qualitative approach, this research collected data from two tourism vocational high schools in Yogyakarta and Bali, Indonesia, observing four hotel and culinary classrooms and interviewing ten volunteer teachers. The results indicate that the teachers implemented humanistic learning by emphasizing student’s active involvement in the learning process, encouraging hands-on and experiential learning, recognizing the unique needs and abilities of the students, accommodating the development of interpersonal skills of the students, and placing significant emphasis on the personal growth of the students. The teachers also incorporated technology in humanistic learning by using digital resources and tools to support learning, promoting a blended learning environment, and facilitating collaboration and communication using technology. Teachers and relevant stakeholders can use the findings of this research to improve the teaching and learning process and better prepare tourism vocational high school graduates for the demands of the tourism industry.
Grandiose narcissism is characterized by ambivalent interaction behavior (i.e., grandiose self-presentation and rivalrous devaluation of others) and strong oscillations in self-esteem over time. In the light of emotional and social problems associated with these self-esteem regulation patterns and the increasing prevalence of narcissistic tendencies, causal and formalized models for prevention and intervention are needed. Here, we present a computational model of narcissistic self-esteem regulation implementing established, verbal theories of narcissism to identify key etiological and disorder-maintaining mechanisms. Across four studies, we show that parental praise and overvaluing, as common forms of non-contingent feedback, lead to typical grandiose-narcissistic behavioral patterns (i.e., entitled self-presentation and rivalry) and strong self-esteem oscillations. Underlying these phenomena, we identify two maintaining mechanisms that offer targets for intervention and empirical falsification: tolerance development, characterized by an ever-increasing desire for social recognition, and a vicious cycle of rivalry, characterized by the frequent use of other-devaluing behavior and massive drops in self-esteem.
This meta-analytic review investigated the development of narcissism across the life span, by synthesizing the available longitudinal data on mean-level change and rank-order stability. Three factors of narcissism were examined: agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism. Analyses were based on data from 51 samples, including 37,247 participants. As effect size measures, we used the standardized mean change d per year and test–retest correlations that were corrected for attenuation due to measurement error. The results suggested that narcissism typically decreases from age 8 to 77 years (i.e., the observed age range), with aggregated changes of d = −0.28 for agentic narcissism, d = −0.41 for antagonistic narcissism, and d = −0.55 for neurotic narcissism. Rank-order stability of narcissism was high, with average values of .73 (agentic), .68 (antagonistic), and .60 (neurotic), based on an average time lag of 11.42 years. Rank-order stability did not vary as a function of age. However, rank-order stability declined as a function of time lag, asymptotically approaching values of .62 (agentic), .52 (antagonistic), and .33 (neurotic) across long time lags. Moderator analyses indicated that the findings on mean-level change and rank-order stability held across gender and birth cohort. The meta-analytic data set included mostly Western and White/European samples, pointing to the need of conducting more research with non-Western and ethnically diverse samples. In sum, the findings suggest that agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism show normative declines across the life span and that individual differences in these factors are moderately (neurotic) to highly (agentic, antagonistic) stable over time.
Υπάρχει σημαντικός αριθμός ερευνών για την επίδραση της γονικής συμπεριφοράς στην αυτοεκτίμηση των εφήβων· ωστόσο, η Διαγενεακή Μεταφορά της αυτοεκτίμησης παραμένει ακόμη ένα ανοικτό πεδίο έρευνας. Η παρούσα μελέτη επικεντρώνεται στη μελέτη της Διαγενεακής Μεταφοράς της αυτοεκτίμησης από τη μητέρα στο εφηβικής ηλικίας τέκνο της, με πιθανούς ρυθμιστικούς παράγοντες το φύλο και τη σειρά γέννησης του εφήβου καθώς και διαμεσολαβητικούς παράγοντες τη γονικότητα της μητέρας και τον τρόπο που την αντιλαμβάνεται ο έφηβος. Συμμετείχαν 201 δυάδες μητέρων-εφήβων ηλικίας 14 ετών, οι οποίοι συμπλήρωσαν μέσω ηλεκτρονικών φορμών την «Κλίμακα Αυτοεκτίμησης του Rosenberg», το «Ερωτηματολόγιο Γονικής Συμπεριφοράς» και την «Κλίμακα Συναισθηματικής Σύνδεσης». Όσον αφορά την αυτοεκτίμηση, τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ηλικιακές και διαφυλικές διαφορές, όπως και διαφορές σχετικά με τη σειρά γέννησης, καθώς και σημαντική αλληλεπίδραση μεταξύ τους. Η αυτοεκτίμηση της μητέρας φάνηκε να επιδρά σημαντικά στην αυτοεκτίμηση του εφήβου, επιβεβαιώνοντας την υπόθεση της Διαγενεακής Μεταφοράς. Ο ρυθμιστικός ρόλος του φύλου, καθώς και η αλληλεπίδραση του φύλου με τη σειρά γέννησης έδειξε ισχυρότερη επίδραση ανάμεσα στην αυτοεκτίμηση μητέρας-κόρης, ιδίως της πρωτότοκης. Επιπλέον, επιβεβαιώθηκε ο διαμεσολαβητικός ρόλος της γονικότητας όπως την αντιλαμβάνεται ο έφηβος, αλλά όχι η μητέρα, εξηγώντας μερικώς τη Διαγενεακή Μεταφορά της αυτοεκτίμησης.
Many risk behaviors, such as cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and problematic social media use (PSMU), are formed and developed during adolescence. These risk behaviors may become even more acute with lasting global economic impacts of the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research indicates that narcissism can lead to problematic social media use; however, there is a gap in the knowledge about the mediating and moderating variables facilitating this relationship. This study examines the role of fear of missing out (FoMO) as a mediator in this relationship and the role of social capital as a moderator for this mediation effect among Chinese adolescents during the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1380 adolescents (825 females) anonymously completed the questionnaires which assessed the four variables of interest. Our results showed that fear of missing out mediated the associations between self-superior and other-inferior narcissism and problematic social media use, and this effect was stronger with other-inferior narcissism. Additionally, social capital strengthened the mediation effect of fear of missing out in the relationships between self-superior and other-inferior narcissism and problematic social media use. The results have critical implications for the prevention of adolescents? PSMU.
This chapter explores the integration of disciplinary literacy across learning stations in PreK through 3rd Grade classrooms to facilitate culturally and linguistically responsive learning. Through a synthesis of research and the professional experience of the authors, the chapter offers a conceptual framework and pedagogical support for literacy practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive to each child's emerging and developing literacy. Additionally, this chapter describes the components of an interdisciplinary approach to facilitating literacy learning at the prekindergarten through third grade level that ensures a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum integrating language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies using learning stations. This model supports self-directed learning facilitated by responsive adult-initiated adult-child interaction in a play-based environment for nurturing intrinsic motivation and self-directed learning.
Persistence is crucial for overcoming academic and interpersonal challenges. However, there has been little progress in developing effective interventions to improve persistence in childhood. Here we outline how recent insights from cognitive science can be leveraged to promote young children’s persistence and highlight future directions to bridge research with practice.
It is assumed that people seek positive self-regard; that is, they are motivated to possess, enhance, and maintain positive self-views. The cross-cultural generalizability of such motivations was addressed by examining Japanese culture. Anthropological, sociological, and psychological analyses revealed that many elements of Japanese culture are incongruent with such motivations. Moreover, the empirical literature provides scant evidence for a need for positive self-regard among Japanese and indicates that a self-critical focus is more characteristic of Japanese. It is argued that the need for self-regard must be culturally variant because the constructions of self and regard themselves differ across cultures. The need for positive self-regard, as it is currently conceptualized, is not a universal, but rather is rooted in significant aspects of North American culture. Conventional interpretations of positive self-regard are too narrow to encompass the Japanese experience.
The young field of research on youth narcissism has begun to bloom. Narcissism is a personality type marked by a sense of grandiosity and a strong need to get attention and admiration from others. Youth narcissism typically emerges at some point in late childhood or adolescence as a derailment of normal self-development and may yield considerable impairment in psychological and interpersonal adjustment. This chapter provides an integrative overview of current knowledge on youth narcissism—discussing its historical roots, theoretical underpinnings, manifestations, and developmental origins; considering pivotal issues regarding assessment, diagnosis, and intervention; and addressing key controversies. In doing so, this chapter illustrates the potential of the study of youth narcissism to the field of developmental psychopathology, and highlights exciting directions for future research. We call for an integrative, interdisciplinary approach to studying the development of trait narcissism and narcissistic pathology.
Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by a sense of superiority and a desire for respect and admiration from others. A common belief, both in psychology and in popular culture, is that narcissism represents a form of excessive self-esteem. Psychologists, including ourselves, have labeled narcissism as “an exaggerated form of high self-esteem,” “inflated self-esteem,” and “defensive high self-esteem.” We review research that challenges this belief by showing that narcissism differs markedly from self-esteem in its phenotype, its consequences, its development, and its origins. Drawing on emerging developmental-psychological evidence, we propose a distinction between narcissism and self-esteem that is based on the divergent socialization experiences that give rise to them. This proposal clarifies previous findings, stimulates theory development, and creates opportunities for intervention to concurrently raise self-esteem and curtail narcissism from an early age.
The most commonly used method to test an indirect effect is to divide the estimate of the indirect effect by its standard error and compare the resulting z statistic with a critical value from the standard normal distribution. Confidence limits for the indirect effect are also typically based on critical values from the standard normal distribution. This article uses a simulation study to demonstrate that confidence limits are imbalanced because the distribution of the indirect effect is normal only in special cases. Two alternatives for improving the performance of confidence limits for the indirect effect are evaluated: (a) a method based on the distribution of the product of two normal random variables, and (b) resampling methods. In Study 1, confidence limits based on the distribution of the product are more accurate than methods based on an assumed normal distribution but confidence limits are still imbalanced. Study 2 demonstrates that more accurate confidence limits are obtained using resampling methods, with the bias-corrected bootstrap the best method overall.
Significance
Narcissistic individuals feel superior to others, fantasize about personal successes, and believe they deserve special treatment. When they feel humiliated, they often lash out aggressively or even violently. Unfortunately, little is known about the origins of narcissism. Such knowledge is important for designing interventions to curtail narcissistic development. We demonstrate that narcissism in children is cultivated by parental overvaluation: parents believing their child to be more special and more entitled than others. In contrast, high self-esteem in children is cultivated by parental warmth: parents expressing affection and appreciation toward their child. These findings show that narcissism is partly rooted in early socialization experiences, and suggest that parent-training interventions can help curtail narcissistic development and reduce its costs for society.
Although it is natural for parents to value their children, some parents "overvalue" them, believing that their own children are more special and more entitled than other children are. This research introduces this concept of parental overvaluation. We developed a concise self-report scale to measure individual differences in parental overvaluation, the Parental Overvaluation Scale (POS; Study 1). The POS has high test-retest stability over 6, 12, and 18 months (Study 2). As demonstrated in a representative sample of Dutch parents (Study 3) and a diverse sample of American parents (Study 4), the POS has an internally consistent single-factor structure; strong measurement invariance across sexes; as well as good convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. Overvaluation is especially high in narcissistic parents (Studies 3, 4, 6). When parents overvalue their child, they overclaim their child's knowledge (Study 4), perceive their child as more gifted than actual IQ scores justify (Study 5), want their child to stand out from others, and frequently praise their child in real-life settings (Study 6). By contrast, overvaluation is not consistently related to parents' basic parenting dimensions (i.e., warmth and control) or Big Five personality traits (Studies 3, 4, 6). Importantly, overvalued children are not more intelligent or better performing than other children (Studies 5-6). These findings support the validity of the POS and show that parental overvaluation has important and unique implications for parents' beliefs and practices. Research on overvaluation might shed light on the determinants of parenting practices and the socialization of children's self-views, including narcissism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
In this article, we review new insights gained from recent longitudinal studies examining the development of self-esteem and its influence on important life outcomes. The evidence suggests that (a) self-esteem increases from adolescence to middle adulthood, peaks at about age 50 to 60 years, and then decreases at an accelerating pace into old age; moreover, there are no cohort differences in the self-esteem trajectory from adolescence to old age; (b) self-esteem is a relatively stable, but by no means immutable, trait; individuals with relatively high (or low) self-esteem at one stage of life are likely to have relatively high (or low) self-esteem decades later; and (c) high self-esteem prospectively predicts success and well-being in life domains such as relationships, work, and health. Given the increasing evidence that self-esteem has important real-world consequences, the topic of self-esteem development is of considerable societal significance.
In current Western society, children are often lavished with inflated praise (e.g., "You made an incredibly beautiful drawing!"). Inflated praise is often given in an attempt to raise children's self-esteem. An experiment (Study 1) and naturalistic study (Study 2) found that adults are especially inclined to give inflated praise to children with low self-esteem. This inclination may backfire, however. Inflated praise might convey to children that they should continue to meet very high standards-a message that might discourage children with low self-esteem from taking on challenges. Another experiment (Study 3) found that inflated praise decreases challenge seeking in children with low self-esteem and has the opposite effect on children with high self-esteem. These findings show that inflated praise, although well intended, may cause children with low self-esteem to avoid crucial learning experiences.
Objective. Self-esteem is seldom recognized to be a culture-specific, historically situated idea, and parents' folk theories of self-esteem are rarely investigated empirically. This paper remedies these omissions by comparing European American and Taiwanese mothers' beliefs about childrearing and self-esteem. The substantive goals are to understand the variety of meanings that these mothers associate with self-esteem and to delineate the local folk theories that contextualize this idea or offer alternatives. A related methodological goal is to develop an approach to interviewing that respects local communicative norms and thereby offers a sounder basis for comparison. Design. The study was situated in two large towns in rural areas, one in the Midwest and one in Taiwan. In each site, 16 mothers of 3-year-olds participated in in-depth, open-ended interviews concerning childrearing beliefs and practices. Results. Nearly all American mothers spontaneously invoked self-esteem early and often in response to a variety of childrearing questions and spoke at length about the importance of building children's self-esteem. In contrast, very few Taiwanese mothers talked about "self-respect-heart/mind" (a Chinese term that approximates self-esteem) and those who did articulated a view that contradicted the European American view. Conclusions. Self-esteem looms much larger in American mothers' folk theories of childrearing than it does in their Taiwanese counterparts'. In the American version, self-esteem is a central organizing concept, believed to be crucial to many aspects of healthy development. In the Taiwanese version, self-esteem is either not something that mothers worry very much about, or it is believed to create psychological vulnerabilities rather than strengths. Adaptation of the interview to local communicative practice enhanced the cultural validity of these findings.
This research examined if mothers' day-to-day praise of children's success in school plays a role in children's theory of intelligence and motivation. Participants were 120 children (mean age = 10.23 years) and their mothers who took part in a 2-wave study spanning 6 months. During the first wave, mothers completed a 10-day daily interview in which they reported on their use of person (e.g., "You are smart") and process (e.g., "You tried hard") praise. Children's entity theory of intelligence and preference for challenge in school were assessed with surveys at both waves. Mothers' person, but not process, praise was predictive of children's theory of intelligence and motivation: The more person praise mothers used, the more children subsequently held an entity theory of intelligence and avoided challenge over and above their earlier functioning on these dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Traditional reviews and previous meta-analyses of self-concept interventions have underestimated effect sizes by using an implicitly unidimensional perspective that emphasizes global self-concept. In contrast, this research employed a synergistic blend of meta-analysis and multidimensional construct validation to evaluate the impact of self-concept interventions for children in 145 primary studies (200 interventions). Overall, interventions were significantly effective (d = .51, 460 effect sizes). However, in support of the multidimensional perspective, interventions targeting a specific self-concept domain and subsequently measuring that domain were much more effective (d = 1.16), suggesting sole reliance on global self-concept is inappropriate for evaluating interventions designed to enhance a specific component of self-concept. Other moderators (e.g., feedback, experimental design, target population groups) also influenced effect sizes in ways useful to the design of new interventions. Methodologically, this research also demonstrates the use of both fixed and random effects models and incorporation of multiple outcomes from the same study.
We studied how specific motivational processes are related to the salience of mastery and performance goals in actual classroom settings. One hundred seventy-six students attending a junior high/high school for academically advanced students were randomly selected from one of their classes and responded to a questionnaire on their perceptions of the classroom goal orientation, use of effective learning strategies, task choices, attitudes, and causal attributions. Students who perceived an emphasis on mastery goals in the classroom reported using more effective strategies, preferred challenging tasks, had a more positive attitude toward the class, and had a stronger belief that success follows from one's effort. Students who perceived performance goals as salient tended to focus on their ability, evaluating their ability negatively and attributing failure to lack of ability. The pattern and strength of the findings suggest that the classroom goal orientation may facilitate the maintenance of adaptive motivation patterns when mastery goals are salient and are adopted by students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Extended findings that support cognitive evaluation theory to intrapersonal processes by exploring the effects of informational vs controlling feedback, when self-selected and administered vs other-administered, and in conditions of task-involvement (intended to create an informational orientation in relation to the activity) vs ego-involvement (intended to create a controlling orientation in relation to the activity). 128 undergraduates working on a hidden figures task received either an ego- or task-involving induction and then a series of 3 puzzle problems for which half of the Ss received informational feedback and the other half controlling feedback. Half the Ss had the feedback self-administered, and half had it administered by the experimenter. After puzzle-solving, Ss were left alone with additional puzzles and magazines and were observed to see if they worked on the puzzles. Finally, Ss completed a questionnaire assessing their interest and attitudes toward the target activity. Results confirm that controlling feedback, whether self- or other administered, undermined intrinsic motivation relative to task-involvement. Results are discussed in terms of the application of cognitive evaluation theory to intrapersonal processes and self-control theories. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Meyer et al. (1979) documented that praise following success and the absence of blame following failure are used by adults to infer low ability. In the present study, the Meyer et al. methodology was modified for examining developmental differences in the use of praise and blame as attributional cues. Children ages 4 to 12 years were presented with videotaped scenarios depicting two students who either succeeded or failed at an achievement task. The feedback to these students was either praise versus neutral feedback following success or blame versus neutral feedback following failure. Participants then judged the effort and ability of each target child. All children inferred that the praised student was higher in effort and that the blamed student was lower in effort than were their neutral-feedback counterparts. A developmental pattern in ability judgments, however, indicated that only the oldest children inferred lower ability given praise and the absence of blame, as in the Meyer et al. study. The data for the youngest children were opposite to this pattern, with higher ability inferred given praise and lower ability reported given blame. These findings were interpreted as evidence of children's emerging understanding of a compensatory relation between effort and ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reports 6 experiments which relate achievement motivation to causal ascription. Exp. I, II, and III revealed that the evaluation of achievement-related outcomes is positively related to the amount of expended effort, but inversely related to level of ability. Evaluative differences between social classes (Exp. II), and disparities between self- and other-judgments (Exp. III) also were examined. In Exp. IV and V individual differences in locus of causality were related to level of achievement needs. Results indicate that Ss high in resultant achievement motivation are more likely to take personal responsibility for success than Ss low in achievement motivation. Clear differences in perceived responsibility for failure were not exhibited between the 2 motive groups. In Exp. VI risk-preference behavior and J. W. Atkinson's (see 33:2) theory of achievement motivation were construed in attribution theory language. It is contended that cognitions about causality mediate between level of achievement needs and performance. (36 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Low self-esteem and depression are strongly related, but there is not yet consistent evidence on the nature of the relation. Whereas the vulnerability model states that low self-esteem contributes to depression, the scar model states that depression erodes self-esteem. Furthermore, it is unknown whether the models are specific for depression or whether they are also valid for anxiety. We evaluated the vulnerability and scar models of low self-esteem and depression, and low self-esteem and anxiety, by meta-analyzing the available longitudinal data (covering 77 studies on depression and 18 studies on anxiety). The mean age of the samples ranged from childhood to old age. In the analyses, we used a random-effects model and examined prospective effects between the variables, controlling for prior levels of the predicted variables. For depression, the findings supported the vulnerability model: The effect of self-esteem on depression (β = -.16) was significantly stronger than the effect of depression on self-esteem (β = -.08). In contrast, the effects between low self-esteem and anxiety were relatively balanced: Self-esteem predicted anxiety with β = -.10, and anxiety predicted self-esteem with β = -.08. Moderator analyses were conducted for the effect of low self-esteem on depression; these suggested that the effect is not significantly influenced by gender, age, measures of self-esteem and depression, or time lag between assessments. If future research supports the hypothesized causality of the vulnerability effect of low self-esteem on depression, interventions aimed at increasing self-esteem might be useful in reducing the risk of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
The present study investigated the hypothesis that in addition to perceptions of one's global self-worth as a person, individuals evaluate their self-worth differently across relational contexts. Perceptions of self-worth among adolescents were examined in 4 such contexts: with parents, teachers, male classmates, and female classmates. The factor pattern revealed a clear, 4-factor solution with negligible cross-loadings. Approximately three-fourths of the participants reported differences in self-worth, ranging from small to large, across contexts. To examine the basis for differences and similarities across relationships, self-worth in each context was predicted by the validation support reported by adolescents in that context. Support in a given context was significantly more highly correlated with relational self-worth in the corresponding context than in any of the other contexts. Adolescents could be divided into subgroups based upon the high correlation between self-worth in one particular context and global self-worth. These findings suggest that how an individual evaluates the self in certain relationships is critical to his or her overall sense of worth as a person.
Narcissism levels have been increasing among Western youth, and contribute to societal problems such as aggression and violence. The origins of narcissism, however, are not well understood. Here, we report, to our knowledge, the first prospective longitudinal evidence on the origins of narcissism in children. We compared two perspectives: social learning theory (positing that narcissism is cultivated by parental overvaluation) and psychoanalytic theory (positing that narcissism is cultivated by lack of parental warmth). We timed the study in late childhood (ages 7–12), when individual differences in narcissism first emerge. In four 6-mo waves, 565 children and their parents reported child narcissism, child self-esteem, parental overvaluation, and parental warmth. Four-wave cross-lagged panel models were conducted. Results support social learning theory and contradict psychoanalytic theory: Narcissism was predicted by parental overvaluation, not by lack of parental warmth. Thus, children seem to acquire narcissism, in part, by internalizing parents’ inflated views of them (e.g., “I am superior to others” and “I am entitled to privileges”). Attesting to the specificity of this finding, self-esteem was predicted by parental warmth, not by parental overvaluation. These findings uncover early socialization experiences that cultivate narcissism, and may inform interventions to curtail narcissistic development at an early age.
In contemporary Western society, many adults use praise to boost children's self-esteem. Accordingly, they might praise those who seem to need it the most: children with low self-esteem. In this article, we review research showing that certain types of praise can backfire, especially in children with low self-esteem. Adults are inclined to give children with low self-esteem person praise (e.g., “You're smart!”) and inflated praise (e.g., “That's incredibly beautiful!”). Paradoxically, such praise can lower these children's motivation and feelings of self-worth in the face of setbacks (e.g., when they struggle or fail). Lowered feelings of self-worth, in turn, might invite more person praise and inflated praise from adults, creating a self-sustaining downward spiral. We propose a transactional model to shed light on this apparent praise paradox, and we describe the model's implications for theory and research.
The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder is the definitive resource for empirically sound information on narcissism for researchers, students, and clinicians at a time when this personality disorder has become a particularly relevant area of interest. This unique work deepens understanding of how narcissistic behavior influences behavior and impedes progress in the worlds of work, relationships, and politics.
Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative. Its power is frequently mentioned in articles about learning and teaching, but surprisingly few recent studies have systematically investigated its meaning. This article provides a conceptual analysis of feedback and reviews the evidence related to its impact on learning and achievement. This evidence shows that although feedback is among the major influences, the type of feedback and the way it is given can be differentially effective. A model of feedback is then proposed that identifies the particular properties and circumstances that make it effective, and some typically thorny issues are discussed, including the timing of feedback and the effects of positive and negative feedback. Finally, this analysis is used to suggest ways in which feedback can be used to enhance its effectiveness in classrooms.
A content analysis of 2 years of Psychological Science articles reveals inconsistencies in how researchers make inferences about indirect effects when conducting a statistical mediation analysis. In this study, we examined the frequency with which popularly used tests disagree, whether the method an investigator uses makes a difference in the conclusion he or she will reach, and whether there is a most trustworthy test that can be recommended to balance practical and performance considerations. We found that tests agree much more frequently than they disagree, but disagreements are more common when an indirect effect exists than when it does not. We recommend the bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval as the most trustworthy test if power is of utmost concern, although it can be slightly liberal in some circumstances. Investigators concerned about Type I errors should choose the Monte Carlo confidence interval or the distribution-of-the-product approach, which rarely disagree. The percentile bootstrap confidence interval is a good compromise test.
At the Annual Meeting in May 1974, the American Academy awarded its first Social Science Prize to Clifford Geertz for his significant contributions to social anthropology. Mr. Geertz has taught at Harvard University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Chicago; in 1970 he became the first Professor of the Social Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Mr. Geertz' research has centered on the changing religious attitudes and habits of life of the Islamic peoples of Morocco and Indonesia; he is the author of Peddlers and Princes: Social Changes and Economic Modernization in Two Indonesian Towns (1963), The Social History of an Indonesian Town (1965), Islam Observed: Religious Developments in Morocco and Indonesia (1968), and a recent collection of essays, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973). In nominating Mr. Geertz for the award, the Academy's Social Science Prize Committee observed, "each of these volumes is an important contribution in its own right; together they form an unrivaled corpus in modern social anthropology and social sciences." Following the presentation ceremony, Mr. Geertz delivered the following communication before Academy Fellows and their guests.
In this article, I present a theoretical perspective on the nature of "optimal" self-esteem. One of my major goals is to show that optimal and high self-esteem are different from each other. High self-esteem can be fragile or secure depending upon the extent to which it is defensive or genuine, contingent or true, unstable or stable, and discrepant or congruent with implicit (nonconscious)feelings of self-worth. Optimal self-esteem is characterized by qualities associated with genuine, true, stable, and congruent (with implicit self-esteem) high self-esteem. A second major goal is to present a conceptualization of the construct of authenticity. I propose that authenticity as an individual difference construct may be particularly important in delineating the adaptive features of optimal self-esteem. Authenticity can be characterized as the unobstructed operation of one's true, or core, self in one's daily enterprise. I argue that authenticity has 4 components: awareness, unbiased processing, action, and relational. Initial data pertaining to these components are highly encouraging. Finally, I discuss some implications of the fragile versus secure high self-esteem distinction for narcissism, defensive processing models, and cross-cultural self-esteem perspectives.
In this chapter the effects of praise and criticism are considered from an attributional perspective. It is shown that—when analyzed from this perspective—praise and criticism may have consequences that seem nothing less than paradoxical as compared to a reinforcement standpoint, i.e. the point of view that ascribes to positive and negative verbal feedback corresponding positive and negative behavioral, emotional, and motivational effects. Empirical evidence presented shows that praise can lead to the inference that the other person evaluates the recipient's ability as low, while criticism can lead to the inference that the recipient's ability was estimated as high. It is also shown that evaluative feedback can have paradoxical effects on the recipient's self-perception of ability. Finally, some implications of the research are spelled out for the social psychology of the classroom and for the development of the self-concept.
A series of experiments explored the possibility that praise can impair subsequent performance. Three models were proposed: praise leads to reduced effort, it implies a pressured demand for good performance (which impairs performance), and it generates self-attention which impairs the automaticity of skilled execution. The reduced effort model was contradicted by the finding that praise improved subsequent performance on a pure effort task. The performance-demand model received partial support, but it had difficulty accounting for the finding that task-irrelevant praise impaired performance. The self-attention model seems best able to encompass all findings. In conclusion, praise appears to increase effort, but it may impair skilled performance.
In laboratory studies, praising children's effort encourages them to adopt incremental motivational frameworks-they believe ability is malleable, attribute success to hard work, enjoy challenges, and generate strategies for improvement. In contrast, praising children's inherent abilities encourages them to adopt fixed-ability frameworks. Does the praise parents spontaneously give children at home show the same effects? Although parents' early praise of inherent characteristics was not associated with children's later fixed-ability frameworks, parents' praise of children's effort at 14-38 months (N = 53) did predict incremental frameworks at 7-8 years, suggesting that causal mechanisms identified in experimental work may be operating in home environments.
The continued vitality of attribution research in applied settings has instigated a wealth of new findings and research directions over the past few years, many of which are represented in this book.
As the reader may well be aware, there is no single attribution theory, but rather a range of attributional conceptions, each with its own particular approach to causal thinking and its own particular set of pertinent empirical findings. Prior volumes reflect this diversity in attributional approaches. Our book is more focused, inasmuch as most of the chapters here fit within the attributional theory formulated by Bernard Weiner (see Weiner, 1985, 1986). This means that there is an emphasis on attributional consequences rather than antecedents, on dimensions or properties of causes rather than specific attributions per se, and on affective as well as cognitive determinants of behavior.
Reflecting the orientation and expertises of the various authors, the chapters are more research-based than practice-oriented. Thus the audience for this book is more the applied psychologist with a research focus than the practitioner, although we hope that the practical implications evident in each author's contribution will also make this volume appealing to the latter group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
[The author] shows that while manipulating people with incentives seems to work in the short run, it is a strategy that ultimately fails and even does lasting harm. Our workplaces and classrooms will continue to decline, he argues, until we begin to question our reliance on a theory of motivation derived from laboratory animals.
Drawing from hundreds of studies, Kohn demonstrates that people actually do inferior work when they are enticed with money, grades, or other incentives.
What is needed, Kohn explains, is an alternative to both ways of controlling people. The final chapters offer a set of practical strategies for parents, teachers, and managers that move beyond the use of carrots or sticks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Notes that children's conceptions of ability play a pivotal role in their achievement motivation. During grade school and middle school, changes take place in these conceptions and their influence on achievement motivation. To understand these changes, the author reviews research on developmental changes in children's ability conceptions--their definitions of ability, self-perceptions of ability, and reasoning about ability--and research on how these developmental changes in ability conceptions alter children's achievement motivation. The author shows that there are notable changes between kindergartners and 7-8 yr olds, and between 7-8 and 10-12 yr olds--that during each period, qualitative changes take place in children's thinking about ability and in their motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Assimilation and contrast effects in the placement of opinion items in a series and in the evaluation of the acceptability of such items are explained by principles derived from psychophysical studies of stimulus placement and the development of scales of judgment. The book contains a systematic survey of relevant psychophysical studies plus an analysis of several of the authors' recent experiments on the judgment of weights, opinion topics, and political parties. In addition to the argument that assimilation and contrast effects depend on the location of anchors employed by the judge in evaluating the stimulus items, the authors introduce the concepts of latitude of acceptance and latitude of rejection and discuss the implications of these concepts for attitude change and communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We propose a dynamic self-regulatory processing model of narcissism and review supporting evidence. The model casts narcissism in terms of motivated self-construction, in that the narcissist's self is shaped by the dynamic interaction of cognitive and affective intrapersonal processes and interpersonal self-regulatory strategies that are played out in the social arena. A grandiose yet vulnerable self-concept appears to underlie the chronic goal of obtaining continuous external self-affirmation. Because narcissists are insensitive to others' concerns and social constraints and view others as inferior, their self-regulatory efforts often are counterproductive and ultimately prevent the positive feedback that they seek-thus undermining the self they are trying to create and maintain. We draw connections between this model and other processing models in personality and employ these models to further elucidate the construct of narcissism. Reconceptualizing narcissism as a self-regulatory processing system promises to resolve many of its apparent paradoxes, because by understanding how narcissistic cognition, affect, and motivation interrelate, their internal subjective logic and coherence come into focus.
This article examines the adequacy of the “rules of thumb” conventional cutoff criteria and several new alternatives for various fit indexes used to evaluate model fit in practice. Using a 2‐index presentation strategy, which includes using the maximum likelihood (ML)‐based standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) and supplementing it with either Tucker‐Lewis Index (TLI), Bollen's (1989) Fit Index (BL89), Relative Noncentrality Index (RNI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Gamma Hat, McDonald's Centrality Index (Mc), or root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA), various combinations of cutoff values from selected ranges of cutoff criteria for the ML‐based SRMR and a given supplemental fit index were used to calculate rejection rates for various types of true‐population and misspecified models; that is, models with misspecified factor covariance(s) and models with misspecified factor loading(s). The results suggest that, for the ML method, a cutoff value close to .95 for TLI, BL89, CFI, RNI, and Gamma Hat; a cutoff value close to .90 for Mc; a cutoff value close to .08 for SRMR; and a cutoff value close to .06 for RMSEA are needed before we can conclude that there is a relatively good fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data. Furthermore, the 2‐index presentation strategy is required to reject reasonable proportions of various types of true‐population and misspecified models. Finally, using the proposed cutoff criteria, the ML‐based TLI, Mc, and RMSEA tend to overreject true‐population models at small sample size and thus are less preferable when sample size is small.
In this article, I present a theoretical perspective on the nature of "optimal" self-esteem. One of my major goals is to show that optimal and high self-esteem are different from each other. High self-esteem can be fragile or secure depending upon the extent to which it is defensive or genuine, contingent or true, unstable or stable, and discrepant or congruent with implicit (nonconscious) feelings of self-worth. Optimal self-esteem is characterized by qualities associated with genuine, true, stable, and congruent (with implicit self-esteem) high self-esteem. A second major goal is to present a conceptualization of the construct of authenticity. I propose that authenticity as an individual difference construct may be particularly important in delineating the adaptive features of optimal self-esteem. Authenticity can be characterized as the unobstructed operation of one's true, or core, self in one's daily enterprise. I argue that authenticity has 4 components: awareness, unbiased processing, action, and relational. Initial data pertaining to these components are highly encouraging. Finally, I discuss some implications of the fragile versus secure high self-esteem distinction for narcissism, defensive processing models, and cross-cultural self-esteem perspectives.
Optimism, personality, and coping styles may alter the effects of stressful events through appraisal and stress reduction. The 1999 Kosovo crisis offered an opportunity to test this proposition under real-life, traumatic stress conditions. Dispositional optimism, personality, and coping contributions were predicted based on geographical distance and degree of reported stress for 3 groups: Kosovar refugees, Albanian citizens helping the refugees in Albania, and Albanian immigrants living in the United States. Results showed Kosovars significantly higher on all stress measures, and on maladjustment. Reduced optimism and reduced control coping were related to higher levels of maladjustment. Pessimism and escape coping showed no relation to psychological adjustment. Resilience was related to a combination of higher optimism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and control coping, paired with lower neuroticism.
Self-determination theory (SDT) maintains that an understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We discuss the SDT concept of needs as it relates to previous need theories, emphasizing that needs specify the necessary conditions for psychological growth, integrity, and well-being. This concept of needs leads to the hypotheses that different regulatory processes underlying goal pursuits are differentially associated with effective functioning and well-being and also that different goal contents have different relations to the quality of behavior and mental health, specifically because different regulatory processes and different goal contents are associated with differing degrees of need satisfaction. Social contexts and individual differences that support satisfaction of the basic needs facilitate natural growth processes including intrinsically motivated behavior and integration of extrinsic motivations, whereas those that forestall autonomy, competence, or relatedness are associated with poorer motivation, performance, and well-being. We also discuss the relation of the psychological needs to cultural values, evolutionary processes, and other contemporary motivation theories.
Self-esteem has become a household word. Teachers, parents, therapists, and others have focused efforts on boosting self-esteem, on the assumption that high self-esteem will cause many positive outcomes and benefits—an assumption that is critically evaluated in this review.
Appraisal of the effects of self-esteem is complicated by several factors. Because many people with high self-esteem exaggerate their successes and good traits, we emphasize objective measures of outcomes. High self-esteem is also a heterogeneous category, encompassing people who frankly accept their good qualities along with narcissistic, defensive, and conceited individuals.
The modest correlations between self-esteem and school performance do not indicate that high self-esteem leads to good performance. Instead, high self-esteem is partly the result of good school performance. Efforts to boost the self-esteem of pupils have not been shown to improve academic performance and may sometimes be counterproductive. Job performance in adults is sometimes related to self-esteem, although the correlations vary widely, and the direction of causality has not been established. Occupational success may boost self-esteem rather than the reverse. Alternatively, self-esteem may be helpful only in some job contexts. Laboratory studies have generally failed to find that self-esteem causes good task performance, with the important exception that high self-esteem facilitates persistence after failure.
People high in self-esteem claim to be more likable and attractive, to have better relationships, and to make better impressions on others than people with low self-esteem, but objective measures disconfirm most of these beliefs. Narcissists are charming at first but tend to alienate others eventually. Self-esteem has not been shown to predict the quality or duration of relationships.
High self-esteem makes people more willing to speak up in groups and to criticize the group's approach. Leadership does not stem directly from self-esteem, but self-esteem may have indirect effects. Relative to people with low self-esteem, those with high self-esteem show stronger in-group favoritism, which may increase prejudice and discrimination.
Neither high nor low self-esteem is a direct cause of violence. Narcissism leads to increased aggression in retaliation for wounded pride. Low self-esteem may contribute to externalizing behavior and delinquency, although some studies have found that there are no effects or that the effect of self-esteem vanishes when other variables are controlled. The highest and lowest rates of cheating and bullying are found in different subcategories of high self-esteem.
Self-esteem has a strong relation to happiness. Although the research has not clearly established causation, we are persuaded that high self-esteem does lead to greater happiness. Low self-esteem is more likely than high to lead to depression under some circumstances. Some studies support the buffer hypothesis, which is that high self-esteem mitigates the effects of stress, but other studies come to the opposite conclusion, indicating that the negative effects of low self-esteem are mainly felt in good times. Still others find that high self-esteem leads to happier outcomes regardless of stress or other circumstances.
High self-esteem does not prevent children from smoking, drinking, taking drugs, or engaging in early sex. If anything, high self-esteem fosters experimentation, which may increase early sexual activity or drinking, but in general effects of self-esteem are negligible. One important exception is that high self-esteem reduces the chances of bulimia in females.
Overall, the benefits of high self-esteem fall into two categories: enhanced initiative and pleasant feelings. We have not found evidence that boosting self-esteem (by therapeutic interventions or school programs) causes benefits. Our findings do not support continued widespread efforts to boost self-esteem in the hope that it will by itself foster improved outcomes. In view of the heterogeneity of high self-esteem, indiscriminate praise might just as easily promote narcissism, with its less desirable consequences. Instead, we recommend using praise to boost self-esteem as a reward for socially desirable behavior and self-improvement.