But the research has not supported that idea. Gray-Little dices up the research in provocative ways. The self-esteem gap seems to vary along socioeconomic lines, for instance. The gap, however, disappears at higher income levels. It evidently has never been low.
Cultural conservatives grind their teeth at the mere mention of the topic.
And even among academics who study it, there is debate about how it should be defined and measured. The task force quickly became a laughingstock, triggering a backlash. They also argued that there was no clear link between it and achievement, since many high achievers think they stink. In a famous paper from 1996, Roy F. Baumeister, a psychologist at Case Western University, proposed that attempts to raise self-esteem might actually worsen social problems. Criminals, Klan members and Nazis, he archly noted, all most likely suffer not from too little self-esteem but from too much.