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            Auburn University - University Relations
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5/17/95                 Janet McCoy

AU PROF DEVELOPS NEW SELF ESTEEM APPROACH TO DISCOVER TALENTS

      AUBURN -- An Auburn University family and child expert has 
developed a new approach to teaching self esteem to teenagers that is 
aimed at helping teens discover their hidden talents and teach them how 
to share them with others.
      The approach is taught through a publication released by the 
Alabama Cooperative Extension Service at Auburn University, and developed 
by Wallace Goddard, an extension family and child development specialist 
and an associate professor in AU's School of Human Sciences.
      Goddard spent three years researching and developing the 
publication, The Great Self Mystery,  which incorporates new research 
findings about how self esteem is developed in youth and how and why it 
can be harmful.
      "For several years, researchers of child development have 
questioned the ability of self esteem to predict success," Goddard says. 
"What researchers have found is that achievement comes before self esteem 
and efforts to improve self esteem in order to improve school performance 
may be wasted. This new approach is clearly more consistent with research 
on self esteem.Ó
      Everyone needs a little self esteem, Goddard says, but it's like 
the old saying: ÒA little can go a long way.Ó 
      "The problem with self esteem is that it keeps the focus on 
self,Ó he says. ÒPeople are finding out that the 90s 'me' generation is 
not the answer to everything.Ó
      While feeling good about yourself is healthy, problems arise when 
the focus of a person's life is only on self, says Goddard.
       "What is wrong is when a person has no substance or content in 
their life. Instead of people saying 'I'm good' they need to being saying 
what they are good at doing,Ó he says. "People need to connect with 
others. Self esteem doesn't attempt to connect us with other people and 
it's hard to be a real person without some connection to others. You 
don't ideally think of a hermit as a real person, one who is satisfied 
with his life."
      Another problem with high self esteem is that is does not teach 
people to help others, says Goddard. In fact, a significant California 
study, called "A State of Self Esteem,Ó found it was as likely to predict 
bad behavior as well as good.
      "One of the leaders of that project, Andrew Mecca, sadly observed 
that . . . associations between self esteem and its expected consequences 
are mixed, insignificant or absent," said Goddard.
      Street gang members are an excellent example of bad self esteem, 
says Goddard.
       "Studies show gang members have high self esteem and most feel 
good about themselves and others in their gang because they feel a part 
of something,Ó he says. ÒMost of us, however, think gangs are a screwed 
up way of living."
      Instead of increasing self esteem, Goddard suggests a new model 
he calls the program of gifts:
      -- Everyone has a gift. "Everyone has something he or she does 
better than anyone else," he says. "You need to feel good about it and 
develop that gift."
      -- No one has every gift. "All of us need to realize that we 
can't be all things to all people. We devalue our own gift and overvalue 
another person's gift when we don't except our limitations."
       -- Remember why gifts are given. "Our special talents were given 
to us so we could help other people."
      While the publication is aimed at teenagers, Goddard says 
adolescents through adults can benefit from reading it. "There are things 
in it that I use everyday and I evaluate myself using it," he says.
      The publication is divided into five sections that tell the story 
of two teenagers trying to solve the mystery of their talents. "The Great 
Self Mystery is likely to appeal to teens because of the helpful ideas 
but also because of the way it is delivered," Goddard says. 
      "This is an adventure for teens and is meant to help them 
discover their talents, but it does not stop at understanding self," he 
says. "It encourages teens to find ways to develop their talents and to 
use them in serving their community. It teaches them that there is 
something better than self esteem and that is a balanced program of gifts."
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may95:AU-selfesteem                       CONTACT: Goddard, 344/844-3224.
      (NOTE): The publication is available through county extension 
offices. For more than one copy, contact the extension assistant director 
for communications with ACES, Auburn, AL 35849-5623.)