THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF OVERDOING POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF OVERDOING POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

Lately there has been an over reaction to negative comments directed at individuals. “You did this or that wrong,” “You will never be a success.” These were statements people directed at loved ones half a century ago. The typical reactions were negative but others felt it helped the youngster wake up so they could change destructive habits and patterns.  Today parents say the PC positives but wind up not liking or spending time with their children.

Social scientists have come to view all negative assessment as toxic for human development. Their solution was to make almost all negative comments seen as abusive. This movement was initiated in the 1960s. It has been the acceptable approach for over half a century as a universal truth. Currently negatives have become politically incorrect almost everywhere.

Like many “scientific” statements about food and beverages these too are cyclical. Coffee was good then bad and now positive for your health. The same goes for eggs, the sun’s effect, tomatoes, bottled water, soy products, wine, cheese, butter and many other products. The beneficial or negative effect of a food, drink or anything is altered because of changes in the cultural preferences, appropriate dosage, and depth of research or technology at the time. “Universal truth” seems to be less than absolute truth.

Positive reinforcement given on a schedule of 8 positives to 2 negatives was the new formula for raising psychologically healthy children. The more positives the better as children had to have high self esteem to function optimally in today’s world. This philosophy was a staple of child rearing, psychological therapy, family counseling, public schools, penal institutions and most intervention programs for mentally dysfunctional individuals. Any spanking or displays of anger towards children have become abusive. Only heavy doses of positive reinforcement became acceptable in raising children and treating psychological issues.

The positive reinforcement movement led to a “false high self esteem” avalanche. Grade inflation was used to help poor students feel better about themselves in school. Many schools started giving students 40 points before the test began. These unproductive students felt better about themselves in the short term but their academic learning did not improve. They became delusional about how well they were doing compared to others students. Most of them were stunned when they could not remain in college after having received incredibly high grades in high school.  Many for the first time in their lives faced failure and its inherent suffering.

Parents started micromanaging their children so they did not have to face failure and consequences. These parents would forcefully intervene with teachers, law enforcement and coaches to make sure their child would always be rewarded. Children playing on sports teams were given the same playing time as better players and all received the same trophy just for being there, not for outstanding performance. Competition was stricken from sports activities and from school. Everything was sugar coated to eliminate the bitter taste of losing.

Assessments of everyone done with honesty and integrity went out the window. Everyone, no matter how vicious their actions, was treated with kindness as they were considered victims of their circumstances. Bullies are treated in the same manner as victims, each receiving the same weak and innocuous consequences. More and more negative consequences were removed not to hurt the feelings of acting-out, harmful youngsters or even hardnosed, hardened criminals.

The results of giving high doses of positive reinforcement have been a disaster. It only delayed the realization that only through perseverance does a person become disciplined and reach excellence in a particular area. Positive reinforcement as opposed to negative is totally out of balance. Short cuts to feeling good like someone telling you that you are better than what your performance demonstrates has become a common charade.

A person becomes better only after they work towards excellence. It is beneficial to have authority figures and peers giving honest criticism. When the feedback is dishonest, the individual loses the understanding of how to attain a higher level of performance and motivation to improve.  

In any contest giving a false assessment of one contestant is a death sentence for becoming better or even the best. Only by knowing where you stand as compared with other competitors can you improve your game. When you interact with the best you will improve by learning what they do to become winners. When you develop “false esteem” you run out of time to turn yourself around and become a success. This is reality not scientific fantasy.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN  and a new just published book, entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.