Hidden costs of overparenting: Children feel worse about their abilities when adults take over for their peers

Overparenting undermines children's self-efficacy and motivation. However, little research has explored whether its negative impacts extend beyond the home and affect not only overparented children, but also their peers. Here, we test the hypothesis that 6- to 8-year-old children attribute peer success to internal (ability) rather than external (parental intervention) causes and that this attribution leads children to form negative beliefs about their own competencies. In Experiment 1, children were more likely to spontaneously attribute outstanding peer performance to internal causes (ability) than external ones (parental intervention). In Experiment 2, children reported lower self-perceived abilities when they learned that peers outperformed them due to internal (ability) versus external (parental intervention) causes. Together, these findings reveal an unintended consequence of overparenting: Intervening to enhance one child's performance leads peers to feel worse about their abilities, potentially harming their self-concept and future motivation.