Yes, it could. In a study conducted by the University of Rochester, psychologists asked 246 adults to evaluate the importance of six life goals: physical health, growing and learning new things, helping others improve their lives, wealth, the admiration of many, and desirable appearance. The first three goals, you may note, are by most standards rather wholesome; the last three, less so. After a year, the researchers checked up on the subjects to see how well they had done in achieving their goals, as well as how happy and healthy they were. Those who had focused on the first three goals felt great. Not so for the other group. For those who pursued fame, money, and beauty, there was no relationship between their mood and what they achieved. None. Interestingly, the more success achieved for the last three goals, the more negative the correlation: greater anxiety, depressed mood, and health problems. How do we build value, then? Carol Dweck has done pioneering work on the primacy of effort in determining outlook: If you've earned a grade honestly whatever that grade may bethen you genuinely increase your sense of personal integrity. Jennifer Crocker and Lora Park argue that the path a person chooses to build self-esteem is a critical consideration; it's how people validate their sense of value. Pursuing self-esteem by being virtuous, compassionate, generous or altruistic, they write, "would seem to have fewer costs."