Makes their confidence and motivation more fragile.' Many studies indicate that, contrary to popular belief, praise that focuses on ability or intelligence can have a variety of harmful effects when children believe that the praise is insincere (Meyer, 1992), or when it makes them feel pressured. to replicate or exceed their future performance (Baumeister, Hutton and Cairns, 1990 – find reference). Dweck and Mueller (1998) conducted a study of 400 fifth grade students in the United States, examining the effect of praise on students. Students were administered a relatively simple test consisting of nonverbal puzzles. Once finished, half of the students were given their scores and praised for their intelligence, and the other half were praised for their effort. Subsequently the students were asked to choose between two different tests: one more difficult or one easier. Of the students who were praised for their effort, nearly 90 percent chose the hardest test. Next, testing students' fear of failure, the test was significantly more difficult. Students praised for their effort worked much harder on problems than students praised for their intelligence. When students were given the option to watch the exams of higher-achieving or lower-achieving students, the group that had been praised for their effort was more