AP
Sex, booze or money just can't compare with the jolt young people get from a boost to their self-esteem, says a new study of college students that found the desire for praise trumped other desires or needs.
"We looked at all the things college students love and they love self-esteem more," says lead author Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Researchers found that engaging in sex, drinking alcohol, getting a paycheck, eating a favorite food or seeing a best friend couldn't top the high that students got from a boost to their self-esteem.
Using questionnaires, including the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, researchers at Ohio State and Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y, gauged the value of self-esteem among 282 students in two separate studies.
"All these things make people feel good and self-esteem definitely feels good," Bushman says. The study is published online in the Journal of Personality.
Part of what researchers analyzed was the difference between "liking" and "wanting," based on study participants' self-reports. While they said they liked the rewards listed in the study more than they wanted them (which Bushman says is considered healthy), the liking-wanting distinction was smallest on the issue of self-esteem. The study also found those with a strong sense of entitlement were the ones who were most likely to "want" a reward more than they actually "like" it.
For another measure, participants took a test they were told measured intellectual ability. Afterwards, they were told if they waited another 10 minutes, their score would be re-calculated with a method that usually produced better results. Researchers found students who highly valued self-esteem were more likely to stay to get the higher scores.
