The Curse of Self-Esteem, Participation Trophies, and Selfies
You should be rewarded for doing, not being
“Praise that bolsters self-esteem in recognition of good performance can be a useful tool to facilitate learning and further improve performance in the future. Praising all the children just for being themselves, in contrast, simply devalues praise and confuses the young people as to what the legitimate standards are. In the long run, if such indiscriminate praise has any effect on self-esteem, it seems more likely to contribute to narcissism or other forms of inflated self-esteem than to the kind of self-esteem that will be best for the individual and for society.”
— Roy F. Baumeister and associates, Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, Or Healthier Lifestyles?
Everyone wants to improve the lives of all around them. Sometimes in this effort society causes more harm than good. The pursuit of self-esteem is one of these instances. In modern society’s attempt to raise better children and create better citizens, it has breathed life into a vast wave of narcissism and a lack of self-awareness.
If you want to see this epidemic of self-esteem run amok, turn on your television. You’ll quickly be familiar with the sight. A contestant on “Our Country Has…
