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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

Remember affirmations?

"Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggonit, people like me."

Well, if Stuart Smalley's shot-in-the-arm makes you smile, you're not alone. Because a new study shows that young people would rather pump up their self-esteem than see a friend, have a drink or cash a big fat paycheck. The results appear in the Journal¹ of Personality.

We all like feeling good about ourselves. But can a little praise really trump² a slice of pizza, a great party or a wad of cash? College students were given a questionnaire. And they were asked to rate various activities based on how much they liked or wanted them. Things like: drinking, hanging with friends, having sex, and getting paid.

The results? Undergrads do like those things. But not as much as they say they like getting good grades or a compliment³. Study author Brad Bushman says "American society seems to believe that self-esteem is the cure all for every social ill, from bad grades to teen pregnancies⁴ to violence. But there has been no evidence that boosting⁵ self-esteem actually helps with these problems. We may be too focused on increasing self-esteem."

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Karen Hopkin.