Self-esteem, we are told, is a great virtue to fos­ter in a child, hence the many school pro­grams to instill it in young chil­dren and the self-help experts extolling its ben­e­fits to all who will listen.

This is folly, says psy­chol­o­gist Angela Duck­worth in this inter­view where she dis­cusses the futil­ity of attempt­ing to enhance self-esteem in chil­dren, and why self-discipline is more impor­tant.

When kids increase in self-control, their grades go up later. But when kids increase their self-esteem, there is no effect on their grades. The bot­tom line is […] that self-control is more impor­tant than self-esteem in deter­min­ing achieve­ment. […] Self-esteem should be earned. […] It’s a good thing for kids to lose some­times. They see what it’s like to get up again. They real­ize it’s not the end of the world.

via Frontal Cor­tex