The Science of Motivating Young People

Perceptions of self-interest and low motivation can hold both them and us back from realising this potential. In '10-25 Years: The Science of Motivating Young People' Dr. David Yeager explores a wide range of research and provides practical suggestions for how some perceived teenage 'weaknesses' can in fact be harnessed as strengths.

The Teenage Brain Is A Strength

Teenagers, young men in particular make mistakes and sometimes act without thinking. This is part of adolescence. However, it is important that we shift from deficit thinking in regard to the teenage brain and instead of focusing only on the challenges that occur as the brain matures, we also need to recognise the potential of the teenage brain and provide the appropriate supportive environment in which teenagers can thrive.

Fundamentally, the brains of young people from the age of about 10 years of age until approximately 25, are the same. They are maturing but have not yet developed the executive functioning we associate with adulthood. Of course how we interact with and relate to young people across this lifespan of 15 years must be age-appropriate, but we must appreciate the similarities in brain functioning across this age range.

Feedback

Whether our role is as a parent, family friend, teacher, coach or mentor, providing feedback in some form is a core task. We often hear and talk about the importance of learning from mistakes, but how do we help in this regard? Dr. Yeager explains that "From the onset of puberty until we take on adult roles in society, we develop appetites for deeper and more meaningful experiences of respect." Young people crave admiration and pride but will do everything they can to avoid painful social experiences such as humiliation or shame. Sometimes this can be displayed as a lack of effort - if I don't try then I don't risk not being good enough and receiving some form of feedback that validates my lack of ability.

Mentor's Dilemma

This is the mentor's dilemma. When we have a vested interest in a young person's growth and development we want to help them achieve their potential, to be the best version of themselves they can be. However, "it's very hard to simultaneously criticise someone's work and motivate them because criticism can crush a young person's confidence." So, do we provide that feedback and encourage the growth we want to see, or do we shield them from it?

Dr. Yeager proposes that we give wise feedback. In this we ensure that the purpose of the feedback is very clear, that it's about growth and development, and where it comes from. For a parent this will be from a place of love, for a teacher or a coach this will be because of the potential they have identified in the young person. Providing feedback in a caring manner helps to negate the perceived threat to a young person's status.

"Any time young people interact with socially powerful people - managers, parents, educators or coaches - status and respect come to the foreground. Because young people feel sensitive to differences in status, they are subtly reading between the lines with each thing we say, trying to interpret the hidden implications of our words to find out if we are disrespecting or honouring them. This creates a pervasive disconnect between what adults intend to communicate when we speak and what young people can hear from our words."

Adolescents Want to Rebel

Rebelling against authority is, to varying extents, a common component of adolescence. Simply telling young people 'No' or 'Don't' gives them something to rebel against. For many years in the 1980s campaigns to stop young people from smoking were unsuccessful with reviews of the messaging indicating that simply being told not to smoke had the opposite effect; the young people who heard these messages were compelled to do the opposite. Campaigns that focused on the motivation of the big tobacco companies - why they were keen to get young people addicted - and the huge profits the company executives made, were conversely effective at reducing rates of youth smoking. In more recent years awareness campaigns focused on the social and medical impacts of smoking, taking it from something that was 'cool' (how it was portrayed in advertising by the tobacco companies themselves) to a habit that would make one a social outlier. Young people today generally don't smoke as doing so would threaten their social standing.

Dr. Yeager highlights that young people have a craving for truthfulness. When we're truthful in our communication with them it signals respect. Changing the way the message is delivered can change the outcome.

Parental Nagging

Providing feedback, suggestions or correction in a repetitive manner - nagging - is something all parents do from time to time. Researchers wanted to know how this influenced young people. So, they scanned their brains while they played a recording of their parents nagging them.

What was the result? The parts of the brain associated with feeling intense emotions were on fire, a sure sign of anger. But what about the bits that control thinking and planning? These areas showed dramatically lower activation. The 'mind reading' regions of the brain, those associated with trying to understand, also showed very low activation. The nagging made the teenagers angry but did not motivate them to respond positively to what they were being nagged about.

What about talking to teenagers in a different way? In the same experiment the researchers had the young people listen to their parents talk in a "more neutral tone. No accusations, no diminishment, no controlling demands. When that happened, the brain scans of young people looked fine. They took in the information and their thinking-and-planning brain regions were engaged." Their brains performed competently when their parents spoke to them in a neutral manner.

Parental Questioning Routines

Dr Yeager promotes the use of questioning to help resolve conflict with young people. The first three questions help young people to recognise that their interpretation of events is causing a problem. The second three questions encourage them to see things in a more positive manner.

This questioning style is unlikely to elicit the exact responses outlined in the examples above, but it does lead towards a de-escalation of conflict and helps the young person to view the situation from other perspectives.

Stress

Who read that word and instantly assumed that stress is a negative? For most of human history stress has kept us alive. It has let us know when danger approaches so we could, literally, escape with our lives. Today, very few of us will ever find ourselves in life-threatening situations. However, the evolution of a safer society has been much faster than out biological evolution. So, we find ourselves stressed and anxious in situations where we really don't need to be.

Dr. Yeager explains that we have an ingrained belief that if we are feeling stressed our performance will decline. And, for some people, this is no doubt true. However, for most of us, a bit of stress is good. Stress releases hormones called catecholamines which are associated with better cognitive functioning.

"Although stressful experiences feel unpleasant in the moment, they are the path through which everyone who ever became really good at something got to where they are." - The Synergistic-Mindsets Intervention

Two strategies help people during stressful situations. The first of these is having a growth mindset. Recognising that abilities are not fixed and can be developed with dedicated effort and responding positively to feedback. Having a growth mindset causes people to view difficulty as a challenge - a chance to learn, grow and improve - rather than as a threat. The second is having a stress-can-be-enhancing belief. People with this belief are much more inclined to see stress as a normal part of life rather than something to be feared.

So, if our son is stressed?

• Acknowledge his feelings and help him to identify the source of the stress

• Help him to apply a growth mindset perspective - what will he learn by working through the obstacle or challenge, what skills will he develop

• By emphasising the potential growth you will help him to see that stress can be enhancing.

Dr. Yeager has even scripted two messages to help parents:

Growth Mindset Messaging:

"When you're faced with difficult challenges and you keep trying until you get better, your brain grows new connections and becomes better at taking on new challenges in the future. When something does feel really difficult, your brain learns how to respond more effectively to that challenge. It's a lot like the way rigorous exercise makes your muscles sore at first but, with training, your muscles didn't just get stronger, they also recover more quickly when you push them to your limits."

Stress-Can-Be-Enhancing Messaging:

"People often mistake their body's stress response for a sign that they're in a situation they can't handle. It's easy to do - racing heart, fast breathing, sweating - these are also ways our bodies respond in emergencies, when we're in real trouble. This is a mistake that actually can cause you to perform worse because, if you think your stress response is a problem, you're more likely to be worried about it and get distracted from performing. You can use your body's stress response effectively next time you feel it kicking in while you're trying to perform or master something difficult. When you start to feel anxious, try to remind yourself that this is your body's way of helping you to rise and meet the challenge you're facing. That should help you to spend less time worrying about the fact that you feel anxious. Then you can focus on what you're doing and let your body's stress response give you the extra boost you need."

Storytelling

Storytelling can be an incredibly powerful way to help young people understand that struggle is normal and that we all have had to work hard to overcome challenges, feelings of anxiety and nervousness, and to respond to failure and disappointment. In most aspects of life, all we see is the final product; a parent at the height of their career, an outstanding sporting or cultural performance, the achievements of our peers. The hard work that has gone on to get to those situations has usually occurred long in the past or is hidden on the practice field or rehearsal room.

This is an issue that is exacerbated by social media where all we see are people's perfect lives. When we get to choose what we make public very few of us include our embarrassing mistakes or admissions of the anxiety we've felt, the failures we've experienced and the obstacles we've had to overcome. However, when we're working with young people it is important that we do include these experiences in the stories we tell. Help your son learn by telling him about the tough stuff in your life - this is far more beneficial than sheltering him from this aspect of your life.

Talk with your children and regularly have them reflect on things they have found difficult. What have they learned from these experiences? How can they apply the lessons from these experiences to other challenges in their lives?