Strict parents who punish their children may not help them behave.
Instead, scolding youngsters only encourages them to continue with their bad habits, new research
suggests.
The findings are in stark contrast to the substantial body of evidence which says the opposite of
the latest German study.
It showed children can only learn to stop undesirable tendencies if they are given an alternative
not just criticism.
Only giving children the option of punishment for misbehaving encourages them to continue,
scientists said.
Professor Andreas Eder at the Institute of General Psychology of the University of Wurzburg was
behind the study.
He said: 'We were able to show that punishment alone does not automatically cause the punished
behavior to be suppressed.'
For the study, researchers asked participants to complete a simple task involving a number
flashing on a screen.
The scientists were taken aback by this outcome, which showed punishment alone is not enough to
stop undesirable behavior.
In search of a reason why, the experiment was repeated. Again there were two keys, one delivering
a weak shock, the other a strong one.
Participants pressed the key quicker when it was followed by a weak shock, the scientists found.
They said it showed punishment didn't always suppress bad behavior, even if participants knew
something unpleasant would follow.
The latest findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.