Hurlock's Study: Praise versus Criticism
Research studies can be intellectual, academic, difficult to
understand, and sometimes even irrelevant to our specific
application. But there are other studies that can be very
insightful and help us understand how better to do our job.
There is one such study that I would like to discuss in this
month's column. The information is so timely and connected to
managing others that I think we all need to read and think about
what the researchers discovered. The unique part of this study
is that the researchers were not studying adults, but rather
children. I know this may sound strange to you; however, what we
learn from the study can be directly related to managing adults.
So don't get caught up thinking this study doesn't relate to
your job because the subjects were children.
In this case the people studied were fourth and fifth grade
students and the situation was how they performed in a math
class. The variables introduced by the researchers were the type
of feedback the students received after they took math exercises
and quizzes.
Dr. Elizabeth Hurlock wanted to know what reactions there would
be when fourth and fifth grade students received different types
of feedback on their math performance. She specifically wanted
to know if it was more effective to praise, criticize, or ignore
students' performance in math. And she wanted to know what would
happen when students were subjected to each of those conditions.
The outcome was to be decided by how many math problems each
student had solved 2, 3, 4, and 5 days after receiving the
different types of feedback.
For her study Dr. Hurlock divided the students into four groups.
In the first group students were identified by name and praised
in front of other students for their good performance. Students
in the second group were also identified by name in front of
other students, but they were criticized for their poor
performance. Students in the third group were completely
ignored, although they were in the classroom to hear the other
students being praised or criticized. A fourth or control group
was moved to another room after the first test. Students in this
group took the same tests, but they received no comments on
their performance whatsoever.
Now, here is what Dr. Hurlock learned. Students in the groups
that were praised or criticized performed better after the first
day. Then their performance changed dramatically. The students
who were criticized showed a significant decline in their test
scores, and by days 3 and 4, they were performing equally with
students in the group that had been completely ignored.
By contrast, the students who were praised experienced a major
improvement after the second day that was sustained through the
end of the study. By the fifth day of the study, the group that
received praise showed much better performance than the other
groups. Look at the accompanying graph to see the scores of the
four groups. It's startling, isn't it? Wouldn't you think that
the results of this study should be standard reading for every
schoolteacher in America? Sounds like it, doesn't it? But there
is just one problem. Dr. Hurlock's study was conducted in 1925,
that's eighty years ago! Unfortunately, the study wasn't seen as
important in 1925, and, therefore, hasn't changed much behavior
in the classroom since. But the results are so convincing that I
would like to draw a parallel to managing adults with praise,
criticism or indifference.
Some managers believe that giving positive reinforcement to
employees is an indication of managerial weakness. So in an
attempt to appear strong and in command of the situation, they
become masters of inflicting emotional pain through criticism,
sarcasm or indifference. Those three tactics are called the
Three Pillars of Contempt, because the most common reaction to
being subjected to them is to feel contempt toward the
perpetrator.
With an effective ma
nagement development program, school teachers and business
leaders can discover that reinforcing positive performance with
supportive feedback is far better than creating a contemptuous
atmosphere with sarcasm, criticism or indifference. Like many
things in managing others, how your employees perceive you is
what really counts. Your intentions are nice and noteworthy, but
they are actually irrelevant. As every psychology student
learns, "perception is reality." And because it is reality we
must be concerned with how we come across to others; in other
words, how others see our behaviors is more important that our
intentions. To do otherwise is to be foolish and ineffective.
As a manager you need to be aware of the power of positive
feedback along with the dangers of trying to motivate others or
change behavior with the use of criticism, sarcasm or
indifference. Positive reinforcement has been proved by
Hurlock's study and many other studies to be the best method of
getting your point across to others. It is unfortunate that so
many managers haven't been convinced of that fact. Watch your
own style of giving feedback for the next few weeks. Monitor how
much you offer praise as supportive feedback verses how often
you lapse into the Pillars of Contempt. The first step in
improvement is always awareness. Increase your awareness and
then work to modify your style.