title: "Good job, you're so smart": The effects of inconsistency of praise type on young children's motivation.
abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that generic praise ("good drawer") is related to children giving up after failure because failure implies the lack of a critical trait (e.g., drawing ability). Conversely, nongeneric praise ("good job drawing") is related to mastery motivation because it implies that success is related to effort. Yet children may receive a mixture of these praise types (i.e., inconsistent praise), the effects of which are unclear. We tested how inconsistent praise influenced two components of motivation: self-evaluation and persistence. Kindergarteners (N=135) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions in which consistency of praise type was varied. After two failure scenarios, children reported self-evaluations and persistence. Results indicated that more nongeneric praise related linearly to greater motivation, yet self-evaluation and persistence were impacted differently by inconsistent praise types. Hearing even a small amount of generic praise reduced persistence, whereas hearing a small amount of nongeneric praise preserved self-evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49401, USA. zentalls@gvsu.edu
authors.forename: Shannon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Zentall
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis