A research team led by scientists from the University of Georgia has found that the way parents address their children - whether praise or reprimand - significantly affects their progress in mathematics.

For the findings, published in the journal Child Development, the researchers asked more than 500 parents to report how they responded to their children's math test results, as well as their beliefs about it.

The Danger of "You're Smart"

The results showed that parents' responses were responsible for the children's level of mathematics. The children who received responses related to failure but more focused on their personality traits from their parents appeared to be more likely to show higher levels of math anxiety, and scored lower on tests.

And responses focused on personality traits mean addressing the child with some of his qualities, in the sense that you say to him, “You are very smart,” for example, in response to his answer to a difficult question, or vice versa: you say to him, “Mathematics is not yours,” indicating that he is the type that does not lead He does well in mathematics when he does poorly in a question or exam.

According to the study, responses that focus on effort work best, such as saying to him, for example, "Wow, you worked hard", or "What might be useful for you on the next math test?".

Overall, the study found that parents who saw change in math as possible and not linked to personality traits gave actionable responses that focused on their children's use of effective strategies and effort, rather than their intelligence or other personality traits.

Believing that personality traits are a reason for superiority negatively affects children's future convictions and their acceptance of criticism (Pixabe)

flexible mind

Carol Doyle, a psychologist from Stanford University, was one of the first to understand the difference between telling a child that he is smart, or saying to him: I made an effort, as she and her colleagues hypothesized in a study published in the "Child Development" in 2007 that the human mind It follows a mental conviction of two:

  • The first is the “fixed mindset” with which your mind imagines that it is designed to perform specific functions and with fixed capabilities that do not change with time, and therefore you are convinced that there is no need to struggle for a better level, for example, academically, or socially as well. almost settled.

  • The second is the mental system - or say the thinking mechanism - which focuses on the "growth mindset" that believes that we can improve our mental abilities, because our brains work like our muscles, and with proper exercise they can become better.

And between each of the two systems, these beliefs branch out to affect everything else in our lives, from academic performance to choosing the most appropriate jobs for us.

And the matter does not stop there, as Duke and her companions say that those who are convinced of the fixed system usually try to always appear smart, do not accept criticism, and deal with successful people as a threat to them, and believe that only talent is the cause of success, and all of this negatively affects the Their performance against those who believe in a growth mindset.

research recommendations

Based on their findings, the University of Georgia researchers argue that parents and educators should limit responses that focus on personality traits at home and at school, and always prefer to use responses based on the strategy used in studying and making effort.

The second recommendation from the researchers to parents was to think about their own beliefs and goals for their children, and to study how these might lead them to respond. The researchers believe that simply telling the father or mother to modify his behavior is not enough, but that he must change his thoughts as well.

Rather, the researchers argue, persuading parents themselves that math performance can improve with effort in exercise can go a long way to resolving this problem.