Paradoxical Effects of Praise and Criticism on Perceived Ability

In this chapter the effects of praise and criticism are considered from an attributional perspective. It is shown that—when analyzed from this perspective—praise and criticism may have consequences that seem nothing less than paradoxical as compared to a reinforcement standpoint, i.e. the point of view that ascribes to positive and negative verbal feedback corresponding positive and negative behavioral, emotional, and motivational effects. Empirical evidence presented shows that praise can lead to the inference that the other person evaluates the recipient's ability as low, while criticism can lead to the inference that the recipient's ability was estimated as high. It is also shown that evaluative feedback can have paradoxical effects on the recipient's self-perception of ability. Finally, some implications of the research are spelled out for the social psychology of the classroom and for the development of the self-concept.