People often see themselves as capable and competent, so failure can feel threatening. When people experience failure, their confidence may drop, and studies show that a strong threat to self-esteem can even reduce the brain’s ability to learn. However, how we react to failure depends on our relationship with the task.
For example, a study of students learning French found that beginners preferred teachers who highlighted their strengths, while advanced students preferred teachers who corrected their mistakes. Beginners need encouragement to stay motivated and enjoy learning, whereas advanced students want to improve efficiently and have developed a higher tolerance for mistakes.
Learning from success is usually easier than learning from failure, but both experiences are important. Developing a growth mindset and resilience helps people use failures as opportunities for improvement. By understanding our reactions to mistakes and adjusting our expectations, we can grow both personally and academically. This approach allows learners to face challenges, accept errors, and continue developing skills without feeling discouraged.
• competent (adj): able to do something well
• demoralized (adj): feeling hopeless or losing confidence
• tolerance (noun): the ability to accept or endure something difficult
• reinforcement (noun): encouragement or reward to strengthen behavior
• critical (adj): giving careful judgment or pointing out mistakes
• expertise (noun): a high level of skill or knowledge
• resilient (adj): able to recover quickly from difficulties
• self-esteem (noun): the feeling of being confident and valuable
• efficiently (adv): doing something in a way that saves time and effort