Old article on how different kinds of praise affect children’s achievement and self-image. The two kinds of praise the author discusses are praise for intelligence (seemingly innate) and specific praise for effort expended (relating to how one was challenged). In considering my own trevails, I could definitely relate to how willing I have been to take part in something difficult in relationship to how smart I think I am, in general and in whatever particular subject.
I think the prevalence of the first kind of praise may contribute to what a bunch of articles/studies/whathaveyou are terming the current “Quarter Life Crisis,” my generation’s nebulous dissatisfaction with our lives. I often think a lot of those articles are over-generalizing bullshit that fail to take into account a lot of different factors and the diversity of previous generations, and are overdramatizing this need to define the Millenninals, or whatever they’re calling us now. However, the analysis present in this particular article kind of adds some structure to those arguments about why we are flailing and failing (or at least why we seem to think we are failing). Interestingly, the article was written by one Po Bronson, who wrote the well-recieved What Should I Do WIth My Life?, a diverse collection of stories on how people ended up doing what they do (and often, love doing). (My mom bought me a copy I have yet to read. I think I’m mega defensive on all of this stuff and don’t want the pressure of someone else’s life as a guide. It’s not that I think I’m doing it right, it’s just that I’m afraid to feel like there is a wrong or a right. I also don’t want my options to appear limitless. so. hmm.) What I have read of his I like.

