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When Parents' Praise Inflates, Children's Self-Esteem Deflates
Eddie Brummelman1,2, Stefanie A Nelemans3,4, Sander Thomaes4,5
1University of Amsterdam.
Child Development
|September 1, 2017
Summary
Inflated praise from parents may harm children. This study found that overly positive feedback can lower children's self-esteem and foster narcissistic traits, contrary to intentions.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Western parenting trends include frequent use of inflated praise for children.
- Two hypotheses exist: inflated praise may lower self-esteem (self-deflation) or foster narcissism (self-inflation).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of parental inflated praise on children's self-esteem and narcissism.
- To test the self-deflation and self-inflation hypotheses in late childhood.
Main Methods:
- An observational-longitudinal study was conducted with 120 parent-child dyads in the Netherlands.
- Children's ages ranged from 7 to 11 years, a critical period for self-view development.
Main Results:
- Parental inflated praise was associated with lower children's self-esteem, supporting the self-deflation hypothesis.
- Inflated praise predicted higher narcissism in children who already had high self-esteem.
- Noninflated praise showed no significant association with self-esteem or narcissism.
Conclusions:
- Inflated praise may inadvertently lead to negative self-views, including lower self-esteem and narcissism.
- The impact of inflated praise appears complex, potentially exacerbating existing self-views.
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