I don't think praise can hurt a child. Insecurity is much more likely to result from excessive criticism than from excessive praise. Also, children become insecure because they have "insecure" (anxious) genes or they have a lot of failure experiences in a a given area (i.e. they can be academically insecure but secure in other areas) or because they receive harsh punishments for inadequate performance. Specific praise - telling a child exactly what you like about his performance/behavior) - helps a child to stay on track and to do better. If you give too much praise, kids will just figure that you say all these things because you love them, not because they are necessarily true. There is no harm in feeling loved by your parent and on the contrary, it's very good for a child! If your spouse tells you that you are the most attractive, most brilliant, most fantastic person in the universe, it doesn't cause you to become narcissistic; you know it's not all true (I hope). You just understand from all this that your spouse loves you a lot. No harm done.  So I say, praise freely. It isn't at all harmful and it can be extremely beneficial.   Sarah Chana