High self esteem

Can it lead to us living a happier life , while building better and more fulfilling relationships around us?

Or as per a research on why kids bully, it turns out high self esteem is the reason why they bully. I am amazed to think it can have such detrimental impact on a person’s behaviour.

What are your thoughts on this?

Re: High self esteem

It should be high enough that the person will not tolerate bad behavior or bullying.....but not so high that they become arrogant or their ego is so huge.

I've never heard of high self esteem = bullying although I can kind of see where its coming from.

Re: High self esteem

Sara, I read it in a behavioral Science Magazine that they had some research going in America and found out that its actually not low esteem that gets kids to become bullies , but high esteem which results in it. I was surprised myself !

Re: High self esteem

I'm sure that the results of that research will be very interesting even though I am skeptical of all such studies.
I agree with Sara.....just like anything in life, too much can be bad.

I have personally seen a grown man go from not being sure of anything about himself to being so arrogant just by having his ego stroked by his spouse. It has gotten to the point that he is so up his own that he treats her like dirt. So sad.

Re: High self esteem

Hmmm I hear you Muzna. I guess its as what you two said , excess of anything is bad and will have an effect ..

So how does one know where to draw the line? Obviously when one is becoming arrogant they have little clue of it happening

Re: High self esteem

But it's said that even arrogance or something more severe such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder are also rooted in low self esteem. The arrogant bullies that I've encountered did have low self esteem. It wasn't always so obvious at first, but it became apparent later on.

Re: High self esteem

I'd blame this on either communication gap between scientific journals and most media outlets, or i'd question the definitions used altogether.

We've known for decades that high self esteem is not the cause of bullying. They scientists may be referring to something that looks like high self esteem but is actually different, say arrogance - which we also know to be rooted in insecurity.

Re: High self esteem

That's when parents (or outsiders) step in.....an adult can try to have that self awareness, but can't expect it of a little child. It sounds very simple (high enough so they don't tolerate bullying) but I know it's not.....