Inferences from labels can be so strong that people are often careful to separate labels from the behaviors they describe.

Even in music, though, we found the same result. Music reviews that used more present-tense verbs were more persuasive.

But in this context, it turned out that the exact opposite occurred. Expressing doubt about a contentious issue actually increased persuasion. Particularly among people who already had strong beliefs, hearing someone else wasn’t sure about their opinion encouraged them to change their mind in that direction.

For another set of students, the researchers worded the praise slightly differently. Rather than praising the person, or telling them how smart they were, the researchers praised the process, or how hard they were working (“You must have worked hard at these problems”).

But those two or three words made a big difference. Rather than hurting their motivation, praising the students’ process, or how hard they had worked, encouraged them to keep going.