APA Citation
Baumeister, R., Campbell, J., Krueger, J., & Vohs, K. (2003). Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles?. *Psychological Science in the Public Interest*, 4(1), 1-44.
Summary
In this comprehensive review commissioned by the American Psychological Society, Roy Baumeister and colleagues examined decades of research on self-esteem's supposed benefits. They found that while high self-esteem correlates with happiness, it does not cause academic success, job performance, or better relationships. Many assumed benefits were illusory—narcissistic individuals rate themselves highly but aren't rated highly by others. The review challenged the self-esteem movement in education and parenting, arguing that boosting self-esteem without corresponding achievement produces entitlement, not success.
Why This Matters for Survivors
This research distinguishes healthy self-regard from narcissistic self-inflation. Narcissists have high self-esteem—they think they're wonderful—but this doesn't produce actual competence or genuine relationships. Understanding that self-esteem divorced from achievement creates entitlement helps explain how parenting that emphasizes "you're special" without accountability may contribute to narcissistic development.
What This Research Establishes
Self-esteem doesn’t cause success. Decades of research show high self-esteem doesn’t produce academic achievement, job performance, or better relationships. Correlation exists but causation runs the other way—success raises self-esteem.
Inflated self-regard resembles narcissism. Boosting self-esteem without grounding in achievement produces the pattern seen in narcissism: high self-opinion disconnected from actual competence or others’ perceptions.
The self-esteem movement may have backfired. Programs designed to boost children’s self-esteem may have promoted entitlement rather than genuine confidence, potentially contributing to rising narcissistic traits.
Self-control predicts outcomes better. While self-esteem doesn’t cause positive outcomes, self-control does. Focusing on self-regulation rather than self-regard would be more beneficial.
Why This Matters for Survivors
Understanding the narcissist’s self-regard. The narcissist who hurt you genuinely believed they were special—this wasn’t fake confidence covering obvious insecurity. Their self-esteem was real but disconnected from reality.
Recognizing inflated self-regard. High self-esteem isn’t always healthy. When someone thinks extremely well of themselves but this doesn’t match their actual behavior or how others experience them, this is a warning sign.
Understanding cultural context. If you were raised to believe high self-esteem was automatically good, this research explains why that message was incomplete. Confidence divorced from competence produces entitlement.
Parenting implications. If you’re raising children, this research guides toward building genuine confidence through achievement rather than inflated self-regard through unearned praise.
Clinical Implications
Distinguish healthy self-regard from narcissistic inflation. High self-esteem isn’t inherently healthy. Assess whether self-regard is grounded in realistic self-assessment or disconnected from feedback and performance.
Challenge self-esteem-building approaches. Therapeutic approaches focused simply on raising self-esteem may not help and could reinforce narcissistic patterns. Focus on earned self-respect through genuine accomplishment.
Consider developmental history. Patients who were constantly told they were special without corresponding accountability may have developed entitlement rather than genuine confidence.
Address self-control alongside self-regard. Self-control predicts positive outcomes better than self-esteem. Building self-regulation skills may be more beneficial than focusing on how patients feel about themselves.
How This Research Is Used in the Book
Baumeister’s analysis appears in chapters on narcissistic development and cultural context:
“Roy Baumeister’s comprehensive review demolished assumptions about self-esteem. High self-esteem doesn’t cause success—if anything, success causes self-esteem. Boosting children’s self-regard without corresponding achievement produces entitlement, not confidence. The narcissist in your life wasn’t pretending to think they’re special—they genuinely believed it. But their self-esteem was unmoored from reality, disconnected from how others actually experienced them. Understanding this: inflated self-regard isn’t healthy confidence. True confidence follows competence; narcissistic entitlement precedes and replaces it.”
Historical Context
This 2003 review, published in the APS flagship journal for public-interest science, challenged assumptions that had driven educational and parenting practices for decades. The self-esteem movement had spawned countless programs based on the belief that raising self-esteem would produce successful, well-adjusted children.
Baumeister’s rigorous review found these assumptions unsupported by evidence. The publication sparked debate about whether well-meaning efforts to boost children’s self-esteem had unintentionally promoted the entitlement and narcissistic traits researchers were documenting in younger generations.
Further Reading
- Twenge, J.M., & Campbell, W.K. (2009). The Narcissism Epidemic. Atria Books.
- Brummelman, E., et al. (2015). Origins of narcissism in children. PNAS, 112(12), 3659-3662.
- Crocker, J., & Park, L.E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin, 130(3), 392-414.
- Trzesniewski, K.H., et al. (2006). Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior. Psychological Science, 17(5), 381-388.
About the Author
Roy F. Baumeister, PhD is one of the most influential social psychologists of his generation. His research on self-regulation, willpower, and the self has been foundational. He is Professor at University of Queensland and formerly at Florida State University.
This review, published in a major APS journal, represented a significant challenge to assumptions about self-esteem that had driven educational and parenting practices for decades.
Historical Context
Published in 2003, this review challenged the "self-esteem movement" that had influenced American education and parenting since the 1980s. Programs designed to boost children's self-esteem had proliferated based on assumed benefits. Baumeister's rigorous review found these benefits largely unsubstantiated, sparking debate about how parenting practices might unintentionally promote entitlement rather than genuine confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. While self-esteem correlates with happiness, it doesn't cause academic success, job performance, leadership, or better relationships. The correlation often reflects reverse causation—success raises self-esteem—not that self-esteem produces success.
Boosting self-esteem without corresponding achievement teaches children they deserve admiration regardless of performance. This produces entitlement rather than genuine confidence, which comes from actual accomplishment and mastery.
Narcissists have high self-esteem—they think very well of themselves. But this self-regard is disconnected from actual performance or how others perceive them. The research shows self-esteem without grounding in reality resembles narcissism more than healthy confidence.
This is debated. The research shows narcissists genuinely report high self-esteem—they're not consciously covering insecurity. Whether unconscious fragility underlies this is harder to measure, but their conscious self-regard is genuinely inflated.
Baumeister suggests focusing on self-control (which does predict positive outcomes) and earned self-respect through genuine achievement. Confidence should follow competence, not precede it.
Parenting practices shifted toward constant praise, avoiding criticism, and telling children they're special. This may have contributed to rising entitlement and narcissistic traits in subsequent generations.
Healthy self-esteem is grounded in realistic self-assessment, acknowledges limitations, and doesn't require constant external validation. Narcissistic self-regard is inflated, defensive, and dependent on others' admiration while dismissing criticism.
When self-esteem is inflated beyond reality, yes. Unrealistically high self-regard that ignores feedback and expects special treatment regardless of performance is problematic—this describes narcissism.