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The Self-Esteem Problem
A story by Po Bronson about the "inverse power of praise" is getting lots of attention. In the article, Bronson reports on research showing the fallacy of the self-esteem movement--this notion that if schools, teachers, and parents lavish our kids with praise and thus kids feel better about themselves, they will become happier, more successful people. In fact, psychological researchers have found that pumping up kids' self-esteem with empty praise doesn't lead to achievement but can lead to all sorts of problems, including narcissistic behavior.
All of this has been reportedly previously in books and many magazines (especially the parenting mags). My friend and fellow journalist Christina Frank, did an interesting story on this for Parenting mag; I did a Q&A not too long ago with Jean Twenge, an author of a fascinating book called Generation Me. Her thesis is that young people, who range in age from 10 to 35, constitute a new generation, one that was raised with this emphasis on self-esteem, and as a result, have a sense of entitlement that can be debilitating.
Bronson's story didn't uncover anything new, but Twenge's book is worth a read, particularly for parents of young children who are wondering if all those happy face stickers and awards that teachers are doling out are helpful for kids. Twenge is a psychologist and researcher and exhaustively reports on all of the pertinent studies that have been done, proving that the emphasis on self-esteem isn't just silly--it can be harmful.
 Stumble It!
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