Children’s and adults’ evaluations of praise with incongruence between what the praiser is praising and what led the recipient to succeed

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ABSTRACT This study examined the development of the evaluation of praise that differs in congruence between what the praiser is praising (i.e. effort or ability) and what led the recipient to succeed. Children aged 7 and 8 years (second graders) and 10 and 11 years (fifth graders), as well as adults, made emotional and motivational evaluations about protagonists in two scenarios in which protagonists were praised for ability and two other scenarios in which protagonists were praised for effort. Each scenario presented two stories. In one story, protagonists who were good at doing something did it lazily but well, and were then praised for ability (congruent condition) or for effort (incongruent condition). In the other story, protagonists who were poor at doing the same thing tried to do their best and did it well, and were then praised for ability (incongruent condition) or for effort (congruent condition). The results revealed that all three age groups showed an interaction between praise type and level of congruity. Children as well as adults judged that protagonists who were praised for effort in the congruent condition and those who were praised for ability in the incongruent condition felt happier and were better motivated. These results indicate that children aged 7 to 8 years already judge that protagonists feel more positive, regardless of the difference in the type of praise, when they are poor at doing something but they gave it their best effort.