Letting Kids Win Is a Losing Game
Written By Savvy Auntie Staff Writers
By Katelyn Fry
Young children don’t always see the harm in cheating, skipping a step or not taking the time to make sense of things when it comes to games. They have one goal in mind: winning. If they do so honestly, then good for them. But, whether it be an attempt to make our nieces and nephews happy, or not frustrated by losing again, or maybe simply get the game over with, adults sometimes let a child win.
While the intentions are most often good, the consequences of letting a child win are far from it. According to Cari Romm of Science Of Us reporting on a new study in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, when adults deliberately throw a game, it “can mess with [kids’] decision-making skills over the long term, stunting their abilities to use all the tools at their disposal to make the best choice.”
The study required a group of 4- and 5-year-olds to watch a video in which an adult showed them an object and several containers, placed the object in one of the containers, and then asked the children to find it. Then, researchers stepped in and offered the children advice, some of which was genuinely good advice, some of which was misleading.
Half of the group played a “rigged” version of the experiment in which the object was always in whatever container they pointed to, no matter which they chose or whose advice they followed. In other words, they couldn’t lose. The other group used advice from the researchers, for better or for worse.
Later, the children were asked to choose which helper they wanted. Those in the “rigged” group showed no preference because there was no motivation to get the help. But the children in the other group "who stood a chance at losing the game…consistently picked the person who had proven themselves to be helpful.”
Win or lose, earning is best
In a press release related to the study, psychology professor Carrie Palmquist states that when adults let children win at a game, they are enabling them to “become less aware of important information that they could use to learn about the world, because they see it as less relevant to their future success.” If children are constantly handed achievements instead of earning them, they risk the chance of seriously hindering their critical thinking skills.
So, the next time you and your nieces and nephews are going on your umpteenth game of checkers or chess, show your miniature opponent no mercy. OK, maybe show them a little mercy. But don’t just let them win. In the end, that's a losing game.
Photo: spass
Published: November 9, 2016