Encouraging

Encouraging is the act of offering support, confidence, or hope to someone to help them pursue goals, cope with difficulties, or sustain effort. It can be expressed through words, nonverbal cues such as nodding or eye contact, and actions that show belief in a person’s abilities or potential.

Encouragement affects motivation, self-efficacy, and expectancy. Social support can increase persistence after setbacks, and constructive feedback can guide problem solving. In psychology, encouragement is linked to theories of intrinsic motivation and the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

In education, workplaces, sports, and families, encouraging behavior can raise engagement, performance, and well-being. Effective encouragement tends to focus on effort and strategies rather than fixed traits, and is most helpful when timely, specific, and sincere. Benefits include greater resilience, continued effort, and willingness to tackle challenging tasks.

Key techniques include praising concrete efforts or strategies, helping set achievable goals, offering resources, and modeling optimistic yet realistic expectations. Cautions include avoiding hollow or excessive praise, adapting messages to the individual, and recognizing that over-encouragement can sometimes undermine intrinsic motivation or create dependence in certain contexts.

Related concepts include praise, motivation, feedback, and social support.