Despite popular beliefs that self-esteem plays a causal role in a wide range of both positive and negative social behaviors, research shows that it actually predicts very little beyond mood and some types of initiative

The "Self-Esteem" Enigma: A Critical Analysis. David A. Levy. North American Journal of Psychology 21(2):305-338. Jun 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332817129_The_Self-Esteem_Enigma_A_Critical_Analysis

Abstract: Despite popular beliefs that self-esteem plays a causal role in a wide range of both positive and negative social behaviors, research shows that it actually predicts very little beyond mood and some types of initiative. This is likely attributable to myriad conceptual and methodological problems that have plagued the literature. Consequently, this article utilizes specific critical thinking principles (metathoughts) to address five key questions: Why does there continue to be a lack of consensus in defining and understanding self-esteem? Given the heterogeneity of selfesteem, where do the distinctions lie? What are the most prominent problems with self-esteem research? Why does our obsession with selfesteem persist? What are the clinical implications for misunderstanding and misusing self-esteem? Metathoughts include: availability bias, confirmation bias, linguistic bias, naturalistic fallacy, nominal fallacy, emotional reasoning, correlation-causation conflation, reification error, assimilation bias, fundamental attribution error, belief perseverance, insight fallacy, and Barnum effect. Recommendations for improvement are discussed.