One of the many jobs that parents and grandparents have is to boost a child’s self-esteem with encouraging phrases (without overly praising them). This can often come in the form of a genuine compliment. And while a simple compliment may seem like no big deal, that’s not quite the case: People who weren’t complimented as children may develop traits like low self-esteem, limited motivation, pessimism, perfectionism, social difficulties and more. But there’s another end of the spectrum that isn’t all that positive either.
