There is no evidence that high self-esteem itself reliably causes anything -- and, indeed, lots of people with little of it have achieved a great deal in one context or another. . . . By contrast, many people with high self-esteem are happy just being rich, beautiful, or socially connected. Some other people whose high self-esteem has been noted are inner-city drug dealers, who generally feel quite good about themselves; after all, they have succeeded in making a lot of money in a hostile and competitive environment.
A 1989 study of mathematical skills compared students in eight different countries. American students ranked lowest in mathematical competence, and Korean students ranked highest. But the researchers also asked students to rate how good they were at mathematics. The Americans ranked highest in self-judged mathematical ability, while the Koreans ranked lowest. Mathematical self-esteem had an inverse relation to mathematical accomplishment! . . . The self-esteem theory predicts that only those who feel good about themselves will do well -- which is supposedly why all students need self-esteem -- but feeling good about yourself may simply make you overconfident, narcissistic, and unable to work hard.
Paul C. Vitz, "Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship," p.17
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My late father-in-law, a long-time Christian educator, used to point out that there is only one verse where "esteem" is used in conjunction with the word "self," and that is in Philippians 2:3 where it says, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves." He wrote an article entitled "Self-Esteem or Christ-Esteem," which he presented as a keynote address at a Christian school convention. http://buffalonoise.blogspot.com/2009/04/selfesteem-or-christesteem.html
And of course the Bible also says that no one hates themselves! (Eph 5:29). So teaching "self-esteem" is nonsense.
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