When it comes to self-esteem, more is better, right? Not so fast, says social psychologist Roy Baumeister.

by Meta McMillian

In general, all of the youths faced some personal trauma-anger over a lost relationship, disciplinary action, feelings of alienation, a desire for revenge. It was just a matter of how they would vent their feelings. Their solutions were all too similar. The youths resorted to violence.

The 1997-98 school year proved to be a violent one on the nation's schoolyards. It was notable for the level of violence, the killings by teenagers and even pre-teens. Young people in Pearl, Mississippi; West Paducah, Kentucky; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Springfield, Oregon; and other communities opened fire and killed or wounded fellow students and teachers.

The incidents come on the heels of an era when schools, parents, and government authorities had devised a range of self-esteem-enhancing initiatives to help youths feel good about themselves-bolstered enough to cope with the hard knocks they were sure to receive later in life.

Recent studies indicate such initiatives may have gone too far, or have only limited value. While acknowledging that he is not familiar with the youths involved in the shootings, CWRU Professor Roy Baumeister says his research shows that violent youths-and, for that matter, adults-often possess an inflated sense of self. They are more likely to feel threatened by anyone who challenges their sense of superiority.

"That's why I'm concerned that schools and parents say we should boost our children's self-esteem further, because that could be making the problem worse," says Prof. Baumeister, the Elsie B. Smith Professor of Liberal Arts. He is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, in the College of Arts and Sciences. "That could be risky. We're already doing fine with self-esteem. We should be teaching self-control."

Prof. Baumeister is among a growing group of social psychologists who, in recent years, have prompted the nation to rethink the value of popular self-esteem initiatives. Enhancing self-esteem, in the second half of the twentieth century, had become part of the prescription for curing every social ill in society. Prof. Baumeister's research suggests that the value of self-esteem is overrated, and that inflated self-esteem can, in fact, be dangerous.

His work on self-esteem and other subjects--narcissism and self-control, to name two--has been the subject of network news television programs, numerous national print media reports, and a recent 20/20 segment. The professor's findings, from existing data and experiments, suggest that violent people are not lashing out at society because of self-loathing or low self-esteem.

"In general, what we've been doing is taking the approach that we should boost our children's self-esteem no matter what," Prof. Baumeister says. "And I think that's pursuing the wrong kind of self-esteem--self-esteem that has no basis in achievement, but that says you're good no matter what you do."

In recent decades, schools have sought to help students enhance self-image without helping them establish a foundation for that image, he says. Students are passed along in grades, rather than made to suffer the humiliation of being left behind, whether or not they are ready to advance. In sports, everyone may get a ribbon or trophy in competitions, whether or not the prize was earned.

"If we tell our kids to be good, work hard, achieve well, and like yourself, then that ties self-esteem to a standard. Then it's connected to an actual basis in objective accomplishment. And that is much less likely to produce these violent responses."

Inflated self-esteem, he believes, "fosters this sort of dangerous type of appetite, and produces violent lashing out when someone comes along who says, 'You're not as great as you think you are.' "

Prof. Baumeister says narcissism and inflated self-esteem are closely related, often used interchangeably, and refer to one's internalized sense of self. Males with inflated self-esteem are more likely to be violent than females, he adds, just as they are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior in other aspects of life.