“It wouldn’t be correct to say that the study participants were addicted to self-esteem,” said Bushman, who headed the research team. “But they were closer to being addicted to self-esteem than they were to being addicted to any other activity we studied.”

He said he and his team were shocked by the findings.

“We purposely chose things that we thought college students love. Most of the participants were around 19. College students love drinking, they love sex. They are poor; they love money and getting a paycheck.”