Each group took the same math quiz, which was easy. Most students earned a perfect score. In the first group, children were told, “You had a perfect score! You are so smart!” (identity). In the second group, students were told, “You earned a perfect score! You must have tried really hard!” (behavior). Then children in both groups took a more difficult math quiz. The students in the first group, who had been praised as smart, did badly on the harder quiz: they gave up too easily. But the students in the second group, who had been praised for trying hard, did better: they kept working on the
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