Young People Say Sex, Paychecks Come in Second to Self-Esteem

Ohio State Research: Young People Say Sex, Paychecks Come in Second to Self-Esteem

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Young people may crave boosts to their self-esteem a little too much, new research suggests.

Researchers found that college students valued boosts to their self-esteem more than any other pleasant activity they were asked about, including sex, favorite foods, drinking alcohol, seeing a best friend or receiving a paycheck.

“It is somewhat surprising how this desire to feel worthy and valuable trumps almost any other pleasant activity you can imagine,” said Brad Bushman, lead author of the research and professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University. ...

... “American society seems to believe that self-esteem is the cure all for every social ill, from bad grades to teen pregnancies to violence,” he said.  “But there has been no evidence that boosting self-esteem actually helps with these problems.  We may be too focused on increasing self-esteem.”

Study co-author Crocker added, “The problem isn’t with having high self-esteem; it’s how much people are driven to boost their self-esteem.  When people highly value self-esteem, they may avoid doing things such as acknowledging a wrong they did. Admitting you were wrong may be uncomfortable for self-esteem at the moment, but ultimately it could lead to better learning, relationships, growth, and even future self-esteem.”

 

Comments

[Tyson]

Makes me think about Lady Gaga's new song, "Born this Way," in which she sings: "I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes. I'm on the right track, baby. I was born this way."

That perfectly encapsulates the zietgeist of the new generation, unfortunately.

[Michael W. Kruse]

Tyson, you might want to check out this interesting post by Mark Roberts: The Controversial Anthropology of Lady Gaga Examined>