Does confidence really breed success? “What’s really become prevalent over the last two decades is the idea that being highly self-confident – loving yourself, believing in yourself – is the key to success,” says psychologist Jean Twenge. “Now the interesting thing about that belief is it’s widely held, it’s very deeply held, and it’s also untrue.”
About nine million young people have filled out the American Freshman Survey, since it began in 1966.
It asks students to rate how they measure up to their peers in a number of basic skills areas – and over the past four decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being “above average” for academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability and self-confidence.
More students say they’re gifted in writing ability, yet test scores show writing ability has gone down since the 1960s, says Twenge.
And while in the late 1980s, almost half of students said they studied for six or more hours a week, the figure was little over a third by 2009 – a fact that sits rather oddly, given there has been a rise in students’ self-proclaimed drive to succeed during the same period.
Self-esteem doesn’t lead to success, says Roy Baumeister, a Florida State professor who’s studied the topic for years. “Self-control is much more powerful and well-supported as a cause of personal success,” he says.
In one study, university students who’d earned C, D and F grades “received encouragement aimed at boosting their self-worth.” They did worse than students with similar grades whose self-esteem had been left alone. “An intervention that encourages [students] to feel good about themselves, regardless of work, may remove the reason to work hard,” writes Baumeister.