The effect of praise on children’s self-perceived competence: A cross-national study

Abstract

The present study examines the effect of praise on the self-perceived competence of young children from prototypical individualistic (the Netherlands) and collectivistic (Indonesia) countries in the context of success and failure situations. 76 Dutch kindergartners (55.3 % girls) and 86 Indonesian kindergartners (50% girls) aged 4 and 5 were asked to estimate the height of three block towers they were going to build (indexing their self-perceived competence). Dutch kindergartners demonstrated higher self-perceived competence than Indonesian kindergartners. However, praise showed no effect on the self-perceived competence of kindergartners from the two countries, following both success and failure experiences. This result implies that praise might not have an immediate effect on children’s self-perceived competence at this age, suggesting its impact on young children’s self-perception may be long-term or less pervasive than is often believed. Interestingly, Dutch children’s self-perceived competence dropped more steeply than did Indonesian children’s following a mild failure experience, suggesting another cultural influence on children’s self-perception. Some practical implications for adults (e.g., parents and teachers) and directions for future research are discussed.