Its opposite, self-esteem, can be more effective. Highly prized in certain parenting and education circles, where praise gushes and participation trophies gleam, self-esteem measures how much you value yourself. How good do you feel about who you are? How favorably do you evaluate your traits and behaviors? For example, in surveys, people with high self-esteem award themselves top marks for their looks, their brains, and their popularity—while people with low self-esteem make the opposite assessment. (Curiously, neither evaluation correlates with how smart, attractive, or popular someone
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