Your Brain on Compliments

To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as being rewarded money. There is scientific proof that a person performs better when they receive a social reward such as a compliment after completing an exercise. Complimenting someone could become an easy and effective strategy to use in the classroom and during rehabilitation.

The researchers had previously discovered that the same area of the brain affected in this study, the striatum, is activated when a person is rewarded a compliment or cash. Researchers in Japan have found a scientific explanation. According to their study, compliments activate the same region of the brain, the striatum, as cash does, and both encourage people to perform better.