Bullies and self-esteem
I love it when I read something that makes me turn one of my views on its head. A good example is the Scientific American article 'Violent Pride', where the traditional attitude towards bullies and violent young men was truly trounced.
Low self-esteem theory
The traditional view in schools and social work, is that problematic, and often violent bullies, suffer from low self esteem. When Roy Bauermeister looked for research to support this view, he found zilch. Not content with this he went on to complete a thorough set of research projects to see if his hypothesis, that they have an overabundance of esteem, even narcissism, was true.
Bullies have high self-esteem
What he found was shocking. Far from having LOW self-esteem, they were egoistical with grandiose views of themselves. Their inflated sense of self-importance meant that, when threatened, or perceived to have been threatened, they turned to violence. Their views were confirmed when they extended their studies to prisoners, where murderers and violent offenders, on the whole had high scores on self-esteem studies. Alcohol often acted as a trigger as it boosts their esteem. In a series of clever trials he showed that threatened egoists and narcissists were the norm in bullying and violent behaviour, not threatened low self-esteem.
Tough on outside, weak inside?
Couldn't it be that their low self-esteem is just hidden, deep inside? The research here was also clear. Those who have studied violence, from playground bullies to gang culture, have found no evidence of hidden low self-esteem. "In contrast to a fairly common assumption among psychologists and psychiatrists, we have found no indicators that the aggressive bullies are anxious and insecure under a tough surface".
Dangerous consequences
Two thirds of teachers have experienced bullying, one in four pupils and similar numbers in the workplace. The danger that lurks in many schools and institutions is that staff are encouraged to boost already bloated egos in the mistaken belief that they have low self-esteem. This is to inflate already overblown egos to become larger and more dangerous. Praise, in other words, needs to be tied to actual behaviour and performance, not dispensed freely. Could it be that our schools have become more dangerous because the bullies have been inadvertently molly-coddled?
posted by Donald Clark at 6:17 PM
15 Comments:
Kia ora Donald!
'Twas ever thus in education.
It never ceases to amaze me how educationalists continue to put (so-called) theory into practice despite clear evidence that indicates that it's false. I wonder if it is the misdirected use of theory through a misunderstanding of how these evolve - or are supposed to evolve.
It's simply not scientific.
Ka kite
from Middle-earth
1. Teacher training is clearly one choke point, perpetuating old and outdated ideas.
2.The fact that teaching is the only unionised profession means a fundamentally reactionary attitude towards theoretical and practical progress. Note that this is not an attack on unions (I was a union rep myself) only that unions defend the working rights of their members, not learners.
3. The exclusion of external managers and advisors to the system means the perpetuation of deeply embedded institutional behaviour. Parents, governors and others are largely regarded as a problem to be contained, not a source of energy and innovation.
Lots of other reasons....
I saw that you're an Edinburgh lad Ken - where exactly?
Hi, I'm an educator and wholeheartedly agree we are doing a diservice to those in our charge. I disagree that it is the unions upholding member's rights because I don't see that happening. I do see management, which appears to have completely forgotten what it is like to be in the classroom, pushing what is perceived to be the "feel good" philosphy parents are wanting whether it is in the best long-term interests of the student or not. I have many colleagues who begrudgingly pass a student who didn't earn the pass simply because it is what management expects. This, in my opinion, promotes an elevated and unhealthy sense of self as well as sets up the student for future frustration when he/she encounters any opposition to his/her inflated sense of self.
Please keep up your efforts at educating educators, particularly the administration who set policy. Our society depends on it.
Tēnā koe Donald.
Yes, I studied at Edinburgh for 7 years - degree and then research - and taught for a number of years both during that time and after.
I lived in different areas, including Haymarket, and also the famed Easter Road, right across from Hibernian Football Ground.
For a couple of years I lived close to Colinton to the west. My home town was Dunfermline in Fife, 20 miles north west of Edinburgh and across the Forth River. They say it takes a long spoon to sup with a Fifer :-)
Catchya later
Thanks Ken. We have a lot in common. I also studied in Edinburgh and my first flat was in Dalmeny Street (Leith Walk one end, Easter Road the other). I grew up in West Lothian - just across the Forth in Queensferry then Livingston. Wonderful thing this blogging!
Well, well, Donald.
I lived between Iona Street and Dalmeny Street when flatting in Easter Road, 1971 - 72. Your flat would have been just round the corner.
I used to enjoy the walks around St Anne's Malting and the Drambuie Liqueur factory - both disused at that time.
I recall when they knocked down the tall brick chimney of the Drambuie factory. It had 'Drambuie Liqueur' painted along its entire length and was quite an iconic scene in its day.
Catchya later
Edinburgh remains my favourite city for just walking about - I'm back every year for the Festival and at least 3/4 other times a year, as all of our relatives still live there. We'll have to meet up for a pint in Edinburgh some day - Cafe Royal, Guildford, Boundary Bar, Central Bar, Mathers, Milnes....I could go on for some time with this list!
I also stayed in flats in Royal Crescent, Southside (St Leonards) and Morningside.
Milne's Bar sounds good. My haunts were Deacon's and Bobby's with Sandy Bell's a preferred option if you could get in! I used to folk sing around the pubs in Edinburgh and had a regular spot at the Iona Hotel cocktail bar upstairs. But I could never figure how the folk singers in Sandy's could manage to get any elbow room!
Reminds me of the quote from psychologist martin seligman when someone asked him about shootings in high schools and he respondedalong the lines of:
"We keep telling our kids they can be anything they want to be when clearly this isn't true and there's nothing worse than a kid with high self esteem and a mean streak"
Yip - I blame Freud - all of this attribution of causality to the unconscious - everyone became an amateur pychoanalist, long after the whole thing has been discredited.
Ken - know those haunts well. I seem to remember the Iona Hotel being a Sunday afternoon drinking haunt.
I'm new here landed up searching blogs on resources on Self Esteem. cool blog you have here, keep it up. and its nice to be here. i'll be back some time later for more updates.Thanks for sharing with us....
The reason this myth is perpetuated is simple: people WANT to believe it. They want to believe that children are innocent and blameless, especially their own children. Thus, if they're seen doing something sadistic and cruel, there MUST be a good reason for it. Confirmation bias always opens the door to logical fallacies. When evidence refutes the "low self-esteem" claim, they just claim that the bully's low self-esteem is hidden "deep down inside," so deep that psychologists can't detect it, and yet the bully apologists find it every time. Funny, that. Only the people who want to see it are able to see it.
Self esteem is something that can be viewed as a sliding scale indicator, simply by implying that it can be high or low confirms that it falls on a spectrum and is neither one or another. I think what you call a high self esteem is simply arrogance and over inflated pride. Esteem itself is a word meaning estimate. So self esteem is a self-estimate, and an estimate is a measurement, so falls into the category of opinion and not fact. It is possible that someone suffering "high self esteem" as you put it is simply someone who has grandiose opinions about themselves in a certain area. So if you want to see that person exhibit lower sides of their self esteem, and remember that's a self estimate of self based on one's own judgement. If you take that same person and put them in a board room, they would likely crumble. Take them in any environment where they cannot perform to even a reasonable standard, inside they'd be crumbling.
This is a well written article that everyone should read. As a victim of bullying myself AND I had a narcissistic brother who was a bully I concur. The myth that bullies have LOW self esteem MUST be eradicated if bullying is ever going to be properly addressed.
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