The research of Dr. Carol Dweck is interesting here [1]. It says that students who were praised for "being smart" developed this ego/defensiveness problem and s

The research of Dr. Carol Dweck is interesting here [1]. It says that students who were praised for "being smart" developed this ego/defensiveness problem and subsequently began to underperform. While students praised for working hard did not, and ended up outperforming the "smart" group. The amazing thing about the research, to me, is that this effect was very prominent and quick, and it happened based on only one sentence being told to the students on one occasion. It did not take years of parents telling their child, "you are so smart". It took one teacher telling the child once, "you did so well, you must have worked hard", for the effect to take place. [1] http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/ http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/