Self Esteem Grades and Relationships

This weeks post follows on from last weeks post and is taken from the wikipedia it outlines more inconsistencies in self esteem and a little how blind faith was used initially with promotion of self esteem enjoy. Craig

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s Americans assumed as a matter of course that students' self-esteem acted as a critical factor in the grades that they earn in school, in their relationships with their peers, and in their later success in life. Given this assumption, many American groups created programs to increase the self-esteem of students, assuming that grades would increase, conflicts would decrease, and that this would lead to a happier and more successful life. Until the 1990s little peer-reviewed and controlled research took place on this topic.

“	The concept of self-improvement has undergone dramatic change since 1911, when Ambrose Bierce mockingly defined self-esteem as "an erroneous appraisement." Good and bad character are now known as "personality differences". Rights have replaced responsibilities. The research on egocentrism and ethnocentrism that informed discussion of human growth and development in the mid-20th century is ignored; indeed, the terms themselves are considered politically incorrect. A revolution has taken place in the vocabulary of self. Words that imply responsibility or accountability — self-criticism, self-denial, self-discipline, self-control, self-effacement, self-mastery, self-reproach, and self-sacrifice — are no longer in fashion. The language most in favor is that which exalts the self — self-expression, self-assertion, self-indulgence, self-realization, self-approval, self-acceptance, self-love, and the ubiquitous self-esteem.	”
—Ruggiero, 2000

Peer-reviewed research undertaken since then has not validated previous assumptions. Recent research indicates that inflating students' self-esteem in and of itself has no positive effect on grades. One study has shown that inflating self-esteem by itself can actually decrease grades.^[7]

High self-esteem correlates highly with self-reported happiness. However, it is not clear which, if either, necessarily leads to the other.^[8]

Some psychologists believe in a cause-and-effect relationship between high self-esteem and academic success^{[citation needed]}. Ethnic identity may also play a role in the correlation between self-esteem and academic performance. The psychologist Jean S. Phinney, for example, has identified the development of ethnic identity among African-American adolescents as an integral stage in the development of their self-esteem.^{[citation needed]} Psychologists have acknowledged the importance of ethnic identity, but have varying views of its relevance to academic success.^{[citation needed]}

Some research evaluates the extremes of ethnic identity, with those who identify themselves as pro-black experiencing high self-esteem while those whose ethnic identity relates to anti-white behaviors display low self-esteem.^{[citation needed]} Other researchers have built upon this idea and developed questions about the relevance of ethnic identity in the world of academia for African-American students. The field seems amenable to further study of larger numbers of African-American adolescents to accurately identify the role of ethnic identity in the development of self-esteem.

Article from Wikipedia

Some criticisms of Self Esteem

Critics see the all pervading importance given to self-esteem in popular culture and in modern psychology as misleading and dogmatic. A review of self-esteem literature by Roy Baumeister confirmed that high self-regard per se is not necessarily good nor does it translate into higher estimates by others of a person's intellect, appearance or virtue. Self-esteem as panacea is "a very compelling illusion," because it correlates with happiness and other good things, says Baumeister, but psychologists "were a little too eager in promoting the program before the data were in." Some social constructionists argue that modern day America with its overwhelming cultural bias towards self-enhancement has fabricated and validated the dogma of self-esteem as a universal human goal that all must strive towards perfecting. This fails to consider the absence of such an emphasis in other flourishing cultures, where high self-esteem is not as celebrated and central a concept.

Psychological literature and popular culture both concentrate on the presence or absence of high self-esteem, however some evidence suggests that the overemphasis on the self-esteem mantra can lead to rapid falls when the self becomes invalidated in the domains that one considers important. In addition this pursuit may have negative consequences on the welfare of society as a whole. Eastern philosophy, particularly Buddhist and Hindu thought, see the self in its limited form as illusory; it perceives a "true self" as a sublime and transcendent entity, whose nature remains hidden from the limited or egoic self. Some Christians^{[weasel words]} also oppose boosting self-esteem, believing that Christians should esteem Christ rather than themselves and that they should turn to him regarding their problems.^[6].

Problems with Self Esteem

In my first post I thought I might dispell a few myths about self esteem and challenge a few misconceptions.

First a definition: Self Esteem is conditioned self acceptance. This becomes an issue because because it requires you to achieve or do something good in order to accept yourself.

What is self esteem so bad?
Unfortunately because self esteem requires you to do something good in order to accept your self apart from being hard work after a while the flipside of the self esteem equation also means that if you fail at something you tend to berate yourself for not succeeding and often consider yourself a failure.

Don't you mean low self esteem is bad?
Unfortunately high self esteem leads to low self esteem it simply can't be maintained for long with out self esteems old friend the ego coming out. But for now let's just stick with self esteem.

So how does this work?
Well if your needing to have something good happen in order to accept your self when nothing does it leads to being un happy for no real reason. You may also find yourself using terms life feeling good about yourself this really is a self centered notion. In the coming posts through my everyday observations and the writings of others the issues of self esteem will be exposed.