Research Shows Harms of High Self-Esteem

Note: italicized blue text is used for quotes from secular studies.

Instead of promoting a healthy understanding of ourselves, self-esteem philosophy promotes unwarranted pride in self. Sadly, it is a secular teaching that has infiltrated the church.

Scripture alone provides enough evidence to reject the popular self-esteem teachings. However, the "self-esteem experiment" in America also provides secular evidence for rejecting it.

Self-esteem teachings are helping fulfill the negative prediction in 2 Timothy 3:1-5:

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."

1. Self-esteem philosophy hinders repentance: 

From a study conducted by Ohio State University and the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory:

"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. . . . 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."  ~  The Danger of Self-esteem 

We're creating a culture of proud "Pharisees" even though God wants us to be like the humble, repentant tax-collector. See Luke 18:9-14.

2. Self-esteem philosophy promotes arrogance and confusion.

All italicized quotes in this section are from: Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles? from a study by Roy F. Baumeister, Florida State University; Jennifer D. Campbell, University of British Columbia; Joachim I. Krueger, Brown University; Kathleen D. Vohs, University of Utah:

"Popular wisdom in the age of self-esteem holds that loving oneself is a prerequisite for loving others. . . . Efforts to boost self-esteem in schools, homes, and elsewhere would be well justified if they resulted in significant improvements in how people got along with one another. The evidence suggests that the superior social skills and interpersonal successes of people with high self-esteem exist mainly in their own minds. People with high self-esteem claim to be more popular and socially skilled than others, but objective measures generally fail to confirm this and in some cases point in the opposite direction. . . ."

"Always praising and never criticizing may feel good to everyone concerned, but the data we have reviewed do not show that such an approach will produce desirable outcomes. . . . Using self-esteem as a reward rather than an entitlement seems most appropriate to us. To be sure, there may still be a place for unconditional positive regard, such as when a parent shows love for a child independent of achievement. But when achievement or virtue is involved, self-esteem should be conditional upon it. A favorable view of self should be promoted on the basis of performing well and behaving morally. By the same token, we think it appropriate and even essential to criticize harmful or unethical behavior and lazy or deficient performance, without worrying that someone’s self-esteem might be reduced."

Encouragement and deserved praise are part of love, but constructive criticism and strong rebukes are also a part of love. Lest we doubt that, look at the words of Jesus to Peter whom He loved (Mark 8:33). And read Christ's words about rebuking you and me (Revelation 3:19).

Note that 2 Timothy 3:1-5 quoted at the beginning of this article says that people who love themselves with be boastful, proud, and conceited.

"The praise-only regimen of the self-esteem movement is ultimately no more effective for learning than the criticism-only regimen of the previous era. . . 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."

Jesus said we should expect no special praise for doing what we are supposed to do (Luke 17:7-10). 

3. Healthy views of self are built on self-control, not self-esteem.

from The Trouble With Self-Esteem by Lauren Slater, NY Times: 

"Last year alone there were three withering studies of self-esteem released in the United States, all of which had the same central message: people with high self-esteem pose a greater threat to those around them than people with low self-esteem and feeling bad about yourself is not the cause of our country's biggest, most expensive social problems. . . . Shifting a paradigm is never easy. More than 2,000 books offering the attainment of self-esteem have been published; educational programs in schools designed to cultivate self-esteem continue to proliferate, as do rehabilitation programs. . . . Self-esteem, as a construct, as a quasi religion, is woven into a tradition that both defines and confines us as Americans. . . . Perhaps, as these researchers are saying, pride really is dangerous, and too few of us know how to be humble. . . . Psychology and psychiatry are predicated upon the notion of the self, and its enhancement is the primary purpose of treatment. . . . Maybe self-control should replace self-esteem as a primary peg to reach for."

Note that 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (quoted at the beginning of this article) says those who love themselves will be without self-control, abusive, treacherous, and rash.

There are many secular authorities singing the praises of high self-esteem despite this evidence. They may even claim to have "evidence" to back up their claims, but they've likely conducted their research with preconceived results and biased research methods.

So which should we believe—what Scripture teaches or what secular psychology promotes? 

Praising people for everything and for nothing makes them arrogant and addicted to the praise of men.

Let's treat each other as the Bible commands, neither expecting too much of others nor too little. We should love our children enough to punish them when they're bad and praise when they've done something worthy of praise.

🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔🎔

This is a special post on Bible Love Notes because it took you 2-3 minutes to read. If you would like a 1-minute devotion sent to your email each weekday (the main purpose of my blog), please find out more here: Stay Connected.

More articles: Dangers of Self Esteem, Can Too Much Self-Esteem be Bad for your Child? 


Bible Love Notes