In the late 1960s Canadian psychotherapist Nathaniel Branden unintentionally sparked what would become the self-esteem movement when he published his international bestseller, “The Psychology of Self-Esteem.”
Low self-esteem was the root problem for individuals, suggested Branden, making it the root of most societal problems and dysfunctions as well. Countless other books and academic studies followed claiming self-esteem was related to a long list of social ills: violent crime, drug and domestic abuse, teenage pregnancy, poverty, pollution, underachievement in schools, homelessness, AIDS, hunger, and even racism.
Policy makers took this idea and ran with it. By the 1980s, self-esteem theory was woven into the realms of education, health care, welfare, and criminal justice across Western societies in an attempt to banish low self-esteem forever.
With kids having just started the new school year, enhancing students’ self-esteem will continue to be a priority for many schools—often more so than evaluation and accomplishments.
But the cracks are beginning to show. Narcissism levels are up, and several social surveys say Millennials have more entitlement and unrealistic expectations than previous generations.
Materialistic and individualistic values are also on the rise. A recent Pew Research survey revealed Millennials were twice as likely as baby boomers to describe their generation as “self-absorbed” and “greedy,” while much less likely to say they are “moral” or “willing to sacrifice.”
Though self-esteem levels have gone up, there is little evidence to show it did anything to improve social ills as proponents claimed it would.
