Praise for intelligence increased the likelihood of children cheating in a test — an experiment

Children aged 5–6 who, after successfully completing a task, were told they were ‘clever’ were significantly more likely to cheat in the next test. In the experimental group, 64.3 per cent of participants did so — compared with 21.4–38.1 per cent in the groups where success was attributed to the ease of the task, effort or luck.

The study was published in the *Journal of Educational Psychology*. The authors conducted three studies involving 378 children; two of these were pre-registered.

Details

The first study involved 126 children. Following a failure, an adult attributed the result to insufficient effort, bad luck or the difficulty of the task. The different explanations did not result in any statistically significant differences in subsequent cheating.

In the second study, 168 children initially completed the task successfully. An adult then attributed this success to one of four causes: the child’s ability, their effort, luck or the ease of the task. The children were subsequently given a more difficult test, in which there was an equal opportunity to break the rules.

In the group told that success was down to intelligence, cheating was observed in 64.3 per cent of the children. By way of comparison, after being praised for their effort, the rate was 35.7 per cent; after being told success was down to luck, it was 38.1 per cent; and after being told the task was easy, it was 21.4 per cent.

A third study involving 84 children was used to assess the baseline rate of cheating without explaining the reasons for success or failure. In the control group, this rate stood at 35.7% following success.

The authors interpret the result as evidence that an emphasis on fixed ability may create additional pressure to maintain the image of a ‘smart’ child. However, the study itself examined behaviour in a specifically designed test situation and did not directly measure the psychological mechanism that led to cheating.

Why this is important

The experiment shows that the wording of praise can influence not only motivation but also a child’s behaviour in a situation where results can be improved by dishonest means. That said, the finding does not imply that the phrase ‘you’re clever’ inevitably leads to cheating, nor that the effect would be the same for children of other ages or in a normal school setting.

Nor do the results prove that praise for effort in itself improves learning. In this study, it was simply not associated with such an increase in the frequency of cheating as was the case when success was attributed to innate ability.

Source

Li Zhao, Junjie Peng, Yingying Li, Nan Wang and Kang Lee. When “You Are Smart” Backfires: Adult Ability Attributions of Young Children’s Success Increase Test Cheating, Journal of Educational Psychology, 2026. DOI: 10.1037/edu0001062.

Further coverage of the study: Phys.org / The Conversation.