 Our next finalist is also looking at human problems, but at a completely different topic and scale, I'd like to invite to the stage Rajiv Amanani from the ANU College of Business and Economics. And the title of Rajiv's three-minute thesis presentation tonight is, The Two Faces of Self-Esteem at Work. Service work is one of the most psychologically taxing occupations out there. Whether at retail storefronts or in call centers, service workers are routinely subjected to verbal abuse at the hands of their customers. Customers yell at them hurl all manner of insults and racial epithets their way. Customers tell these service workers in no uncertain terms that they are incompetent and stupid. Their voices dripping with disdain and contempt, as if to say, you are beneath me. You do not deserve my respect. You are void of all dignity and worth. Somehow, despite all of this, service workers are expected to stay professional and deliver high quality service. How on earth are they able to do this? Being mistreated like this, day in and day out can have dramatic consequences for how you see yourself. And that's where self-esteem comes in. Perhaps self-esteem is the shield by which service workers repel the slings and arrows of outrageous customers. Maybe it's that indomitable voice deep inside that I am good enough. I am worthy that keep the insults from getting under their skin, that help them brush the abuse off their shoulders like so much lint. I put this premise of the test in a series of survey studies expecting to see the benefits of high self-esteem. It's a good thing, right? I found the exact opposite. The higher the self-esteem of the service worker, the worse they reacted to being mistreated. Now this was no fluke. I conducted study after study after study and observed the same pattern each time. On the face of it, it seems to confound all expectation. What is going on here? The answer, it seems, is in the sculpture over here. This is Janus, the two-faced god of doorways and passages. Much like Janus, self-esteem also has two faces. Yes, self-esteem is a good thing. It's the fuel in the engine of productivity. It's a resource in times of despair. This is the benevolent face of self-esteem, bathed in light. However, self-esteem also has a face cast in shadow, its malevolent face. You see, with self-esteem comes a sense of entitlement, that one deserves to be treated a certain way with respect and deference and admiration. Instead, they get treated like dirt. It's outrageous, and so they lash out at the customers they meet. So the next time someone tries to sell you on the benefits of high self-esteem, remember Janus over here, there's more to self-esteem than just one face.