"Years ago, a friend of mine observed that 80 percent of the people in this country have too much self-esteem and 20 percent have much too little. That struck me as pretty accurate, but psychologists will tell you that self-esteem is not a constant. People’s appraisal of their own worth varies...I have the impression that more people have unstable self-esteem than before. I say this because some of the traditional standards people used to measure their own worth have eroded (middle class respectability), whereas more people now seem to measure themselves against celebrities and superstars. It would be interesting to know if anybody has studied changes in the criteria we use to measure self-worth. "Comment 1: You bring up an interesting point because I do believe values and beliefs have changed. It would be very interesting to see the criteria used for self-worth. I find it hard to believe that only 20% of people have low self-esteem. I’ve been following Brene Brown’s thoughts on the subject of self-worth, and low self-worth (on some level) seems much more common.Comment 2: If the quality of one’s self-esteem is going to be judged by comparisons with those who are celebrities and superstars, then the entire exercise is really pointless.Comment 3: Self-esteem solution: A happy marriage.Comment 4: Ego (self-worth) is proportionate to wealth. The more wealth, the more self-worth.Comment 5: Benjamin Franklin said it best, and it applies to all facets of life. "Contentment will make a poor man rich just as discontent will make a rich man poor." It does not mean not try to do your best, or be the richest. It simply means once you’ve done your best be content with yourself, just as if you don’t give your best effort discontent is sure to follow.Comment 6: I’ve "retired" from 30 years of expensive, if interesting, "personal growth" and "self-improvement." much probably motivated by trying to "fix" myself. Hanging out with friends at a local cafe is way more satisfying.Comment 7: A related concept you may be interested in is the "sociometer theory" of self-esteem, pioneered by Mark Leary (Wake Forest). Basically it states that our self-esteem is determined by the amount of perceived social acceptance/rejection, and that determination is full of cognitive biases and errors. Awesome stuff.