fostering calming vs. fostering calm

[GoodTaste]

The ongoing war in Ukraine has already taken an enormous toll on the lives of many. Ukrainians and others affected by the war need to sustain their mental health in this context. Hobfoll and colleagues1 identified five essential elements of immediate and midterm psychosocial support following trauma exposure: ensuring safety; fostering calming; maintaining a sense of self and community efficacy; sustaining connectedness; and fostering hope.2 These elements are widely accepted as general guidelines for the development of primary and secondary prevention strategies and are core in recommendations during the “golden hours” of the early care needed.

Source: The Lancet
Digital psychological first aid for Ukraine

As I read "fostering calming", I asked quietly in my mind: "Why not simply 'fostering calm'"? If I wrote the article, I would write "fostering tranquility". But then the meaning of tranquility is exactly "calm" - the quality or state of being tranquil. So the question comes back: "Why not simply 'fostering calm'"?

It seems to me that "fostering calm" is a bit better than "fostering calming". But The Lancet is at the home of English and is prestigious in the world. So I am not sure that my feeling of the grammar is correct.

Does "fostering calm" work there?

 

[tedmc]

I think both the gerund (calming) and the noun (calm) work, but there is a difference. Calming is the process of making a situation/person calm, whereas calm is a state of calmness.

 

[GoodTaste]

I think both the gerund (calming) and the noun (calm) work, but there is a difference. Calming is the process of making a situation/person calm, whereas calm is a state of calmness.

You seem to have ignored the meaning of "foster", which refers to "promote the development of" or "bring up" and thus "fostering" itself is a process to get things done step by step.
So the situation is more complicated than you think.
Besides, you didn't answer my question: Is fostering calm a bit better than fostering calming there.

 

[tedmc]

The verb "fostering" makes no difference to the subject. It could be promoting/encouraging calming

As I said, the gerund and the noun are different. It is not so much a question of which is better than what the writer wishes to convey,

 

[GoodTaste]

Since fostering concerns with the development, which itself is a process, it is not necessary to be followed by a process - that is why "fostering calm" appears to be a bit better than "fostering calming" to me. Because the development of a state sounds more natural than the development of a process. I am not sure.

Native speakers know many things linguistically that they don't know they know. Let's wait.

 

[5jj]

You seem to have ignored the meaning of "foster", which refers to "promote the development of" or "bring up" and thus "fostering" itself is a process to get things done step by step.
So the situation is more complicated than you think.

I don't think ted did ignore this.

Besides, you didn't answer my question: Is fostering calm a bit better than fostering calming there.

Ted did respond to that.