Praising kids effort vs ability How you choose to praise your kids can have a big impact on how they approach challenges later in life A study done on 5th graders highlights the difference between these two approaches: A group of students were given an easy problem to solve.. Group A was praised on ability. Things like: Youre so smart Youre so intelligent Group B was praised on effort. Things like: You worked so hard on this You put so much effort into this All students were given a more difficult set of problems. Group A experienced a big decline in performance, majority got the problems wrong Group B did not experience a decline and performed well, getting most of the problems correct What happened? Group A displayed a fixed mindset. This line of thinking leads to "I'm either smart enough to solve this or i am not. There is nothing I can do to change this". A fixed mindset is also linked with a fear of failure since this means "I'm not smart enough" Group B displayed a growth mindset. This line of thinking leads to "I can improve my skills & expand my knowledge as long as I keep trying". A growth mindset empowers kids as they learn that they can overcome challenges with their effort. They also learn to view failure as a learning experience. Nurturing a growth mindset increases the likelihood of success academically but this very likely translates to any challenges kids will eventually face. Parents should keep this in mind when praising their kids and make an effort to identify their efforts & hard work rather than their abilities.