Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Science
Remember affirmations? [“Because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggonit, people like me.”] Well, if Stuart Smalley’s shot in the arm makes you smile, you’re not alone. Because a new study shows that young people would rather pump up their self-esteem than see a friend, have a drink or cash a big fat paycheck. The results appear in the Journal of Personality. [Brad Bushman, Scott Moeller and Jennifer Crocker, "Sweets, Sex, or Self-Esteem? Comparing the Value of Self-Esteem Boosts with Other Pleasant Rewards"]
We all like feeling good about ourselves. But can a little praise really trump a slice of pizza, a great party or a wad of cash? College students were given a questionnaire. And they were asked to rate various activities based on how much they liked or wanted them. Things like: drinking, hanging with friends, having sex, and getting paid.
The results? Undergrads do like those things. But not as much as they say they like getting good grades or a compliment. Study author Brad Bushman says “American society seems to believe that self-esteem is the cure all for every social ill, from bad grades to teen pregnancies to violence. But there has been no evidence that boosting self-esteem actually helps with these problems. We may be too focused on increasing self-esteem.”
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
See what we're tweeting about
2 Comments
Add CommentCan reliable general conclusions about American society really be drawn from a study of college undergrads? They represent a very specific population subgroup of people under a great deal of pressure to achieve in a somewhat arbitrary reward system. As I understand they suffer high incidence of depression and suicide and may generally tend to exhibit low self esteem.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese same results may not be obtained in studies of military officers, welfare recipients or nightclub devotees, for example.
Can't social psychiatrists realize that conclusions reached through studies of a specific, convenient student population sample cannot be properly extended to more general populations? I think this general tendency discredits the entire field of study.
Beyond the narrow focus of this single study, it seems to point to a simply observable social behavior in younger populations in general. Another word for it is self-involvement. Piaget explained how in early childhood, there is no separation between the child and the universe; eventually the child figures out how to differentiate between self and other. From what I observe in society, they're not successfully separated; it's ALL about the 'me'; my this, my that. my road, my SUV, my cellphone, my sidewalk, my life, my needs, my wants, me, me, me. Listen to teenagers talk to each other - it is frequently not a conversation but two self-focused monologues bumping up against each other. They neither care to listen, not care if they are even heard; as long as they can keep talking about themselves, they're engaged. It's a growing symptom of a deeper social problem that is better discussed in another forum. I find two general categories of exchanges with younger people: it's either all about them, "me, me, me" or "whatever" for everything else.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this