Page 237 - The Social Animal

Self-Justification 219

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do. Jennifer Henderlong and Mark Lepper recently reviewed a host
of studies in this area and found that it is not that simple. Praise can
be beneficial but only if it is done in moderation and in a way that
makes children feel competent. However if a parent or a teacher lav-
ishes praise on children in such a way that it creates the illusion that
the reason they performed the activity was to earn the praise, chil-
dren will not learn to enjoy the activity itself. By the same token, if
the emphasis is placed on competition—that is, on doing better than
most of the other kids in the class—the children’s focus is on win-
ning rather than on doing, and, consequently, they do not enjoy the
thing they are doing. These findings parallel the results of the exper-
iments on reward discussed above; causing a person to focus on the
extrinsic reasons for performing well will reduce the attractiveness of
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the task itself. Moreover, as Carol Dweck has shown, praise is most
effective if it is focused on the child’s effort rather than on the child’s
talent or ability. That is, if children are praised for their effort on a
difficult task, they learn an important lesson: “When the going gets
tough, I will work harder because hard work will result in a better
performance.” But if they are praised for being smart—then, if a sit-
uation arises where they are failing, they frequently draw the conclu-
sion that “I am not as smart as people thought I was.” This can have
devastating consequences.

Insufficient Punishment In our everyday lives, we are continu-
ally faced with situations wherein those who are charged with the duty
of maintaining law and order threaten to punish us if we do not com-
ply with the demands of society. As adults, we know that if we exceed
the speed limit and get caught,we will end up paying a substantial fine.
If it happens too often, we will lose our licenses. So we learn to obey
the speed limit when there are patrol cars in the vicinity.Youngsters in
school know that if they cheat on an exam and get caught, they could
be humiliated by the teacher and severely punished. So they learn not
to cheat while the teacher is in the room watching them. But does
harsh punishment teach them not to cheat? I don’t think so. I think it
teaches them to try to avoid getting caught.In short,the use of threats
of harsh punishment as a means of getting someone to refrain from
doing something he or she enjoys doing necessitates constant harass-
ment and vigilance. It would be much more efficient and would re-
quire much less noxious restraint if, somehow, people could enjoy