A popular idea in U.S. education has been that academic achievement depends on students having good self-esteem. In the 1980s, educators raised the self-esteem of students, but researchers observed no improvement in academic performance following increases in student self-esteem. This result shows that:
A) the idea that improving student self-esteem would improve academic performance was an unwarranted assumption and a psychological misconception.
B) research on the self-esteem hypothesis was probably executed poorly and should be replicated using better methods.
C) educators are not the experts on education they claim to be and should not be relied on to make judgments about educational policy.
D) it is difficult to raise student self-esteem high enough that it will improve academic performance.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The lack of improvement in academic performance despite increased self-esteem indicates that the belief that self-esteem alone leads to better academic achievement was incorrect. This means that the idea that academic achievement depends on students having good self-esteem was an unwarranted assumption and a psychological misconception.

A Popular Idea in U