Telling a young child they are ‘smart’ seems like a good idea. New research shows how it could encourage them to cheat
A study found 5-year-olds were more likely to cheat on a task after researchers told they were smart.
When parents and teachers tell young children that they are "smart," it might inadvertently encourage those children to cheat on academic tasks, according to recent research. This finding challenges the conventional wisdom that such praise builds self-confidence and fosters positive development. The new study, conducted in China and published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, examined how 5- and 6-year-old children responded to varied attributions about their performance.
In one experiment, children were given an easy counting task and then told they succeeded because they were smart, worked hard, got lucky, or because the task was easy. In a second experiment, some children received no explanation for their success. Subsequently, all children faced a temptation task where they could cheat undetected while the adult was absent.
Remarkably, children who were told they were smart were nearly twice as likely to cheat (64.3%) compared to those who received other explanations (38.1% for luck, 35.7% for effort, 21.4% for easy questions, or 35.7% for no explanation). This study suggests that praising intelligence can create pressure for children to succeed, potentially leading them to engage in dishonest behavior.
While praise can boost children's confidence, attributing success to innate ability may make children feel compelled to maintain that image, avoiding failure or shame. If a task seems too difficult, children might choose to quit or reduce their effort. To promote positive behavior, researchers recommend focusing on children's effort or honesty, as these approaches are less likely to encourage cheating.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
