BRIEF REPORTOn Feeding Those Hungry for Praise: Person Praise Backfires in ChildrenWith Low Self-EsteemEddie BrummelmanUtrecht UniversitySander ThomaesUtrecht University and University of SouthamptonGeertjan Overbeek, Bram Orobio de Castro, andMarcel A. van den HoutUtrecht UniversityBrad J. BushmanThe Ohio State University and VU University AmsterdamChild-rearing experts have long believed that praise is an effective means to help children with lowself-esteem feel better about themselves. But should one praise these children for who they are, or forhow they behave? Study 1 (N357) showed that adults are inclined to give children with lowself-esteem moreperson praise(i.e., praise for personal qualities) but lessprocess praise(i.e., praise forbehavior) than they give children with high self-esteem. This inclination may backfire, however. Study2 (N313;Mage10.4 years) showed that person praise, but not process praise, predisposes children,especially those with low self-esteem, to feel ashamed following failure. Consistent with attributiontheory, person praise seems to make children attribute failure to the self. Together, these findings suggestthat adults, by giving person praise, may foster in children with low self-esteem the very emotionalvulnerability they are trying to prevent.Keywords:person praise, process praise, self-esteem, shame, failurePraise, like penicillin, must not be administered haphazardly. (Ginott,1965, p. 39)Many adults use praise as “emotional nourishment” for children,in an attempt to help children feel better about themselves. Adultsmight therefore be especially likely to praise those children whoseem to need it the most—children with low self-esteem. Accord-ingly, child-rearing experts typically believe that children with lowself-esteem benefit most from praise (e.g.,Talbot, 2009;Youngs,1991). We propose, however, that certain forms of praise canbackfire, especially in children with low self-esteem.Person Praise and Process PraiseChild-rearing experts have long believed that praise is invari-ably beneficial to children’s psychological functioning. Yet, the-orists have proposed that the effects of praise may depend on howsuch praise is phrased. In particular, theorists have distinguishedbetweenperson praise—praise directed at a child’s personal qual-ities (e.g., ability)—andprocess praise—praise directed at achild’s behavior (e.g., effort;Ginott, 1965;Kamins & Dweck,1999). For example, when children succeed at an academic task,they can be praised for their ability (e.g., “You’re so smart!”) orfor their effort (e.g., “You worked really hard!”). Research hasshown that when children later make a mistake on the sameacademic task, those who were praised for ability experiencemore negative affect and evaluate themselves more negatively(Cimpian, Arce, Markman, & Dweck, 2007;Kamins & Dweck,1999;Mueller & Dweck, 1998). These findings suggest thatperson praise might backfire when children fail.
