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When Sergio succeeds, his father says, "You're so smart!" But when Sergio fails, his father says, "You can't do that, can you? It's okay if you quit." Given these kinds of messages, Sergio is most likely to develop ________?

1) a fixed view of ability
2) a mastery-oriented style
3) heightened academic self-esteem
4) a healthy self-image

1 Answer

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Final answer:

Sergio is most likely to develop a fixed view of ability due to the specific responses he gets from his father regarding success and failure. To foster a better self-concept, positive reinforcement and praising effort over innate ability are needed.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given the types of messages Sergio's father conveys after successes and failures, Sergio is most likely to develop a fixed view of ability. This is due to the fixed mindset suggested by the praise for being smart when succeeding, which attributes success to innate ability rather than effort, and the encouragement to quit upon failure, which implies a belief that ability is static and cannot improve. Such messages do not support a mastery-oriented style, heightened academic self-esteem, or a healthy self-image, which are nurtured by recognition of effort and persistence in overcoming challenges.

To help children like Sergio develop a sense of competence and a belief in their abilities, parents and teachers should focus on praising effort rather than innate ability, fostering resilience by treating failures as opportunities for learning, providing positive reassuring feedback that encourages the notion that abilities are developed over time, and avoiding negative labels that can lead to self-limiting beliefs.

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