Everyonehasgooddaysandbaddays．

Sometimesyoufeelasifyouareontopoftheworld．Butoccasionallyyoufeelhorribleandyoulosethingsandyoucannotfocusonyourschoolwork．

Formorethan20yearsscientistshavesuggestedthathighself-esteem(自尊)isthekeytosuccess．Nownewresearchshowsthatfocusingjustonbuildingself-esteemmaynotbehelpful．Insomecaseshavinghighself-esteemcanbringbadresultsifitmakesyoulesslikeableormoreupsetwhenyoufailatsomething．

“Forgetaboutself-esteem”saysJenniferCrockerapsychologist(心理学家)attheUniversityofMichiganUS．“It’snottheimportantthing．”

Feelinggood

Crocker’sadvicemaysoundabitstrangebecauseitisgoodtofeelgoodaboutyourself．

Studiesshowthatpeoplewithhighself-esteemarelesslikelytobedepressedanxiousshyorlonelythanthosewithlowself-esteem．

Butafterreviewingabout18000studiesonself-esteemRoyBaumeisterapsychologistatFloridaStateUniversityhasfoundthatbuildingupyourself-esteemwillnotnecessarilymakeyouabetterperson．

Hebelievesthatviolentandwicked(邪恶的)peopleoftenhavethehighself-esteemofall．Healsosaid：“There’snoevidencethatkidswithhighself-esteemdobetterinschool．”

Problems

Alltypesofpeoplehaveproblems．Peoplewithhighself-esteemcanhavebigegos(自我)thatcanmakethemlesslikeabletotheirpeers(同龄人)，saidKathleenVohsapsychologyprofessoratColumbiaUniversity．

Peoplewithhighself-esteemtendtothinkmoreofthemselvesVohssays．Peoplewithlowself-esteemaremorelikelytorelyontheirfriendswhentheyneedhelp．

Whattodo

Researcherssayitisbesttolistentoandsupportotherpeople．Findpositivewaystocontributetosociety．Ifyoufailatsomethingtrytolearnfromtheexperience．“Thebesttherapyistorecognizeyourfaults”Vohssays“It’sOKtosay‘I’mnotsogoodatthat’andthenmoveon．”