Poster #156 - Descriptive, Comparative or Task-oriented: The Impact of Different Types of Compliments on Children’s Motivational Processes

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Past research has attempted to demystify what could be the optimal ways to support children’s motivational processes (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Current literature suggests that compliments can be a powerful tool for achieving this goal. Yet, its use can be risky with certain types of compliments having detrimental impacts on children (e.g., controlling compliments decrease intrinsic motivation; Ryan, 1982). Unfortunately, although research has offered clear definitions of the types of compliments that can have negative impacts, few studies have focused on optimal ways for parents to congratulate their children, thereby limiting their influence on children’s motivational processes.

To fill this gap, we focused on four types of compliments operationalized as positive in the documentation (Dijkstra et al., 2008; Dweck 2007; Ryan 1982): descriptive, process-oriented, result-oriented and comparative feedback. These types of compliments vary in the intensity of the evaluation they imply and thus could vary in the amount of control they convey. The aim of the first study was to examine the links between these types of compliments and children’s motivational processes using both mothers and children as informants. The second study included an experimental design that compared the situational impacts of compliments that specifically target the product of children’s efforts (descriptive, result-oriented, and comparative). In both studies, it was expected that less evaluative compliments (e.g., descriptive) would be associated with more positive outcomes than evaluative ones (e.g., comparative).

Methods. A total of 65 mother-child dyads (children’s Mage= 10.20; 31 boys) participated in this data collection. For the first study, mothers evaluated how they typically compliment their children, while children reported the types of goals they set for themselves (mastery, performance, avoidance), their motivation (self-determined vs non-self-determined), and their self-esteem. They as well evaluated maternal parenting style. For the second study, children were invited to participate in a creative activity with the experimenter. Placed in one of the three experimental conditions, they either received descriptive, result-oriented or comparative compliments (equivalent number of compliments per condition). After the activity, children filled out situational measures of goal orientation (mastery vs competition) and self-competence. Behavioral measures were also included in the study to evaluate autonomous motivation and goal fixation.

Results. Results from the correlational study showed that beyond children's perceptions of maternal parenting style, descriptive compliments were positively linked with children’s self-esteem, while process-oriented compliments were negatively linked with children’s self-esteem. No significant effects were observed for result-oriented and comparative compliments.

Results from the experimental study revealed that girls and children reporting lower self-esteem felt more competent when given descriptive compliments than result-oriented ones, while boys set more competitive goals when receiving result-oriented compliments compared to descriptive or comparative ones. No significant effects were observed for the behavioral measures.

Discussion. Together, these findings suggest that when parents wish to underline their children’s accomplishment, some compliments may be more effective than others in promoting positive motivational processes. While comparative compliments may at times be problematic, descriptive compliments seems particularly beneficial.

Authors

• Mélodie Roy, Université de Montréal
  Presenting Author

• Fanny Grenier, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Genevieve A. Mageau, University of Montreal
  Non-Presenting Author