Praise

Praise is when we say nice things. We can use our words. We can also use our faces. A smile is a kind way to praise.

Praise can help us learn. It can help kids do well in school. It can also help people do well at work.

Some people praise what you are. They might say you are a good artist. Other people praise what you do. They might say you worked hard.

It is best to be real when we praise. Telling someone they worked hard is very good. It helps them keep trying. Praise is a great way to be kind.

Praise is when we show we like what someone did. We can use words to praise. We can also use our faces or hands. This is called body language. Praise can help people learn new things. It can help kids do well in school. It can also help people do well at work.

Praise can work like a reward. When a person gets praise, they might do that good thing again. To work well, praise should be real. It should also be about a specific thing. If you praise a child for working hard, it helps them. This is called process praise. It focuses on the work, not just the person.

Some people give person praise. They might say, "You are a great artist." This focuses on a person's traits. Some studies show this can be tricky. If a child fails, they might feel helpless. They might think they are not good at the task. Process praise helps more. It tells the child that their effort matters. This helps them keep trying even when things are hard.

Praise is a special way that people talk to each other. It shows that we admire someone or recognize something good they did. People use words to give praise, but they also use body language. This includes things like facial expressions and gestures. Praise is different from just giving feedback or encouragement. While feedback is often neutral, praise is a positive evaluation. It can help keep a group of people working well together.

Praise can act like a reward for good behavior. This idea comes from the work of B.F. Skinner. He studied how rewards make a behavior more likely to happen again. This is called positive reinforcement. For praise to work well, it must follow the good action right away. It should also be sincere and talk about specific details. When praise is done this way, it can help students in school. It can even help adults perform better at their jobs.

Researchers have found different ways to give praise. One way is called person praise. This is when you praise a person's qualities, like saying, "You are a good drawer." Another way is called process praise. This focuses on the work, such as saying, "You worked hard on that drawing." Some studies, like those by Kamins and Dweck, looked at these styles. They found that children who got person praise might feel more helpless after a failure. This is because they might think they simply lack the ability.

Other scientists, like Muller and Dweck, studied how praise affects motivation. They looked at fifth graders to see how they reacted to different words. They found that praising effort was better than praising intelligence. Students praised for effort kept trying even when tasks were hard. Students praised for intelligence often gave up sooner. This happens because effort is something a person can change. Ability can feel like something that stays the same. This can change how a person feels about success or failure.

Praise can also change how we feel about ourselves. It can bring feelings of joy, pride, or happiness. However, if praise does not feel real, it can cause negative feelings. People also use praise to build relationships with others. Some people use it to show they like someone. There is also a type called social-comparison praise. This is when someone says you are doing better than others. Some studies show this can increase motivation in a classroom. It helps people understand where they stand compared to their peers.

Praise is a specific form of social interaction. It is used to express recognition, reassurance, or admiration. People communicate praise through verbal statements and body language. Body language includes facial expressions and physical gestures. Verbal praise involves making a positive evaluation of someone's attributes or actions. When people give praise, they assume their evaluative standards are valid. Praise is distinct from neutral feedback or future-oriented encouragement. It is a powerful tool for regulating social hierarchies and maintaining group cohesion.

Praise can function as a mechanism for behavioral reinforcement. This concept is rooted in B.F. Skinner's model of operant conditioning. In this model, praise acts as positive reinforcement. This means a specific behavior becomes more likely to happen again because it was praised. For praise to be effective, it must follow three specific rules. First, it must be contingent on the behavior, meaning it happens only after the action. Second, it must specify the exact details of the behavior. Third, it must be delivered in a way that is sincere and credible.

Researchers have identified different dimensions of how praise is delivered. One major distinction is between person-oriented praise and process-oriented praise. Person-oriented praise focuses on general qualities or abilities. An example is saying, "You are a talented artist." Process-oriented praise focuses on the effort or the method used. An example is saying, "You worked very hard on that drawing." This is also sometimes called ability versus effort praise. These different types can lead to very different psychological results for the recipient.

History shows that the way we praise can change how people handle failure. Researchers Kamins and Dweck studied how these styles affect children. They found that children receiving person-oriented praise often showed "helpless" responses after failing. These children might blame themselves more often. In contrast, those receiving process-oriented praise often had more adaptive reactions. This is because process praise encourages people to focus on effort or strategy. Muller and Dweck later studied fifth graders to test this idea. They found that praising intelligence was more detrimental to motivation than praising effort.

Beyond behavior, praise has significant cognitive and emotional implications. Effective praise can generate positive affective states, such as joy, pride, or happiness. It conveys that a person has met a noteworthy evaluative standard. However, praise can also have negative consequences. If the praise feels disingenuous or manipulative, it can cause negative emotions. There are also debates regarding intrinsic motivation. Some theorists argue that praise can decrease intrinsic motivation by increasing external control. Others argue that praise defines the standards that motivate people to work harder.

Another important dimension is whether praise is controlling or informational. This perspective comes from the cognitive evaluation theory developed by Deci and Ryan. Informational praise helps a person feel they have an internal locus of control. This means they feel they are in charge of their own actions. Controlling praise, however, can make a person feel they are acting just to please others. A metanalysis of five studies by Deci, Koestner, and Ryan supported this. They found that informational praise related to higher intrinsic motivation. In contrast, controlling praise was associated with less intrinsic motivation.

Finally, praise can involve social comparison. Social comparison is a process where people evaluate their own abilities by looking at others. This is common in educational settings. Social-comparison praise tells a person they are performing better than their peers. Some studies suggest this can increase motivation in a classroom. For example, Sarafino and colleagues found students engaged more with tasks after receiving such praise. However, this method is controversial. Critics argue that social-comparison praise might teach children to judge their worth based solely on how they rank against others.