That’s a very good point. Part of the issue may be connected to the fact that no one seems to have an agreed definition of self-esteem. You seem to be doing the same thing here when you say “There’s a problem with your measure of self-esteem if it correlates with not being able to admit when you’re wrong: that shouldn’t be called self-esteem!” We need to be careful to not argue over definitions.
Yes, tabooing “self-esteem” might be useful. Knowing when you’re confused, being able to admit when you’re wrong, and being able to handle criticism are important characteristics that I value, and these characteristics seem to be tied to learning.
I would suspect that these characteristics are associated with having a stable sense of your own value: that last article mentions a study that associates high and stable self-esteem with being less violent, but high and unstable self-esteem with being more violent.
That’s a very good point. Part of the issue may be connected to the fact that no one seems to have an agreed definition of self-esteem. You seem to be doing the same thing here when you say “There’s a problem with your measure of self-esteem if it correlates with not being able to admit when you’re wrong: that shouldn’t be called self-esteem!” We need to be careful to not argue over definitions.
Yes, tabooing “self-esteem” might be useful. Knowing when you’re confused, being able to admit when you’re wrong, and being able to handle criticism are important characteristics that I value, and these characteristics seem to be tied to learning.
I would suspect that these characteristics are associated with having a stable sense of your own value: that last article mentions a study that associates high and stable self-esteem with being less violent, but high and unstable self-esteem with being more violent.