Too-Confident Teens May Face Rocky Future
'Self-esteem' movement blamed for unrealistic expectations

(HealthDay News) -- Though it's certainly OK to feel good about yourself, years of relentless cheerleading by parents and teachers who have bought into the "self-esteem" movement might have produced teens who are so confident they could be unprepared to face the harsh challenges of the real world.

Researchers have found that American high school students today, when compared with those from the 1970s, are more likely to claim they are "A" students with high IQs and believe they will make outstanding spouses, parents and employees.

"What this shows is that confidence has crossed over into overconfidence," the study's co-author, Jean Twenge, an associate professor of psychology at San Diego State University, told HealthDay. "High school students' responses have crossed over into a really unrealistic realm, with three-fourths of them expecting performance that's effectively in the top 20 percent."

Twenge and co-researcher W. Keith Campbell, of the University of Georgia, used data from a survey of thousands of U.S. high school students that was conducted periodically over 30 years. They compared the answers to 13 questions about students' views of themselves that were given in 1975 to those given in 2006. The questions focused on how smart students thought they were, or how likely they were to be successful as adults.

"When we look at the responses of the students in the '70s, they are certainly confident that they are going to perform well, but their responses are more modest, a little more realistic" than teens in 2006, Twenge said of the findings, published in Psychological Science.

Some examples:

• In 1975, fewer than 37 percent of teens thought they'd be "very good" spouses, compared with more than 56 percent of those surveyed three decades later.
• In 1975, the number of students who thought they'd be "very good" parents was fewer than 36 percent; in 2006, that number hit more than 54 percent.
• In 1975, about half of the students thought they would be great employees, but the number shot to about 66 percent among modern-day teens.
• As for self-reported academic achievement, twice as many students in 2006 than in 1976 said they earned an "A" average in high school: about 16 percent versus 8 percent.

So what does all this confidence mean?

Twenge said that it's a mix of good and bad.

For example, young people who are confident might do well in interviews when they enter the workforce, but if a new employer doesn't provide them with the perks or promotions they feel they deserve, their attitude toward their job could quickly sour.

"They don't set the right goals for themselves because they are overconfident, and that's when it blows up in their face," Twenge said.

So what are parents to do?

The Nemours Foundation offers this tip: Identify and redirect your child's inaccurate beliefs.

It's important for parents to identify kids' irrational beliefs about themselves, whether they're about perfection, attractiveness, ability or anything else, experts say.

On the Web

To learn more about kids and healthy self-esteem, visit the Nemours Foundation.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Jean Twenge, Ph.D., associate professor, psychology, San Diego State University; November 2008, Psychological Science; Nemours Foundation (www.kidshealth.com)
Author: Dennis Thompson
Publication Date: Nov. 30, 2009
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