Praising children with low self-esteem can do more harm than good. Says study

To some parent, praising children encourages them to improve, but a new study says otherwise. New study reveals that complimenting children with low self-esteem makes them feel under pressure to perform and so they avoid challenges.

The study’s authors, from British, Dutch and US universities, looked at how adults praise children and found that while it’s natural for parents to want to praise timid children more, it actually backfires.