Interesting scientific article: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/...df/pspi411.pdf

They found self-esteem is a "squishy" (non-scientific term :-) concept and didn't really "do" much. Maybe we're chasing a rainbow in some forms, like "happiness." The last section on "public policy implications" starts on page 38. It mentions the trend to not criticize kids at all, just tell them how wonderful they are and how that's gone wrong in some ways.