This book is a direct indictment of the self-esteem movement in North American schools. Stout's goal is clear and simple: debunk the beliefs and myths disseminated by those "false prophets" who have made self-esteem one of the major goals of public education.
The last part of Stout's book focus on four major detrimental effects of the self-esteem ideology: narcissism, separatism, emotivism, and cynicism. Narcissism is described as an excessive preoccupation with oneself that leads to a diminished interest in other people's ideas. Separatism follows directly from narcissism, making individuals and groups isolate themselves from others. At the group level, too much focus on group identity in the name of self-esteem (e.g., ethnic, gender) often leads to group rivalries and frictions. Stout's antidote: building community and interpersonal relations. Emotivism means "viewing the world primarily from the perspective of one's emotions rather than one's intellect". It fosters anti-intellectual habits, a non-dissociation between (subjective) personal values and (objective) public virtues, thus a rejection of moral education. Finally, cynicism, an outgrowth of emotivism, promotes the post-constructivist thesis that all ideas are equal and that therefore there is no truth, only opinion; consequently, there is nothing to believe in and no point in believing. Stout argues that when students "discover that no one really cares about their achievement, that they can go on to the next grade without even mastering their current curriculum, and that acting out in class is viewed almost with approbation, the seeds of cynicism are sown" (p. 263). She notes that cynicism goes hand in hand with politically correct thinking.