ABSTRACT
Low self-esteem pops up regularly in other academic reports as an explanation for all sorts of violence, from hate crimes and street crimes to terrorism. But despite the popularity of the explanation, not much evidence backs it up. In an issue of Psychological Review, three researchers examine this literature at great length and conclude that a much stronger link connects high self-esteem to violence. Followers of educational fads will recognize good quality as a fairly conventional exercise in self-esteem training. Thinking up nice things to say about oneself is said to enhance confidence and to improve scholastic achievement and citizenship in general. Study after study has shown that black self-esteem is about as high as that of whites, if not higher, and was only slightly lower before the civil rights movement, at the height of racism and segregation. These studies tend to undercut public policies, including educational ones, based on the well-meaning desire to raise the self-esteem of blacks.
