This generation of college students is focused on self-esteem and the appearance of having confidence. Parents and educators preached the mantra of having good self-esteem in order to aid the creation of this self-esteem generation. The usefulness of this practice has long been debated along with the practicality of this social strategy.

Among the newly developed therapies, America has seen a rise in life coach therapy, which regularly runs against confidence issues. According to Pamela Richarde, president of the International Coach Federation, life coaches help patients achieve results in their lives. In a life therapy session, the coach and patient sit down for an hour-long conversation focused on creating plans to help patients reach their goals.

“It’s important for people to feel like they can do what they want to do,” she said. “Otherwise, they are frozen. We will design what it will take to put them to their goals. When you are striving for extraordinary results, there are many obstacles that come up, including self-esteem and confidence.”

For Taylor Duncan, the executive vice president of College Works Painting, displaying confidence and having good self-esteem are the most important factors in business and in life.

“Confidence is absolutely, positively the No. 1 thing a person can have,” he said. “You either have good self-esteem or you don’t. If you have it you are going to use it and if you don’t, you won’t have that confidence.”

In the same survey, 92 percent of NIU students said it was important the person they date have good self-esteem. Duncan said confidence will always get the guy or girl, regardless of looks.

“It isn’t arrogance. The guy who will get the girl is one who talks and feels confident that he has something to offer,” he said.

Joanne Messina, psychology professor, said she has seen a large difference in the confidence of graduate students versus undergraduate. Self-esteem is not just a social strategy but depends a lot on experience, she said.

“For graduate students, they have a lot of self-esteem because they have really come through the ranks,” Messina said. They are looking to the horizon of opportunities and career paths that are open to them.”

Self-esteem levels differ between the sexes as well.

A study conducted at the University of California in 2001 showed a small difference in global self-esteem between men and women. Global self-esteem is defined as the level of global regard that a person has for him or herself. Women scored slightly lower than men.