I was doing some research about motivation and the effect praise has on it. It is surprising how little people actually know about motivation and praise, and the psychological background to it.

Here’s a diagram that I took from Henderlong and Lepper (2002), which reveals the findings from research done on verbal praise and how it enhances a child’s behavior.

While this may have less impact on adults, I believe this to be useful for two reasons. First, it gives us a benchmark as to how exactly to praise our children, and hopefully to learn the lessons within to even praise adults. Second, it shows us which factors actually could lead to praise being ineffective.

Comments or questions?