One example Salerno (2009) gives of the harms of placing total emphasis on having a PMA is the deficits in the public school system when "self-esteem based education" was promoted. Its intent was to foster academic success and greatness through increasing students' self-worth. Students were protected from failure so that even those who did poorly would succeed, and honour rolls were abandoned so as not to hurt the egos of the children who did not make the cut. This promotion of positivity was supposed to lead each child to success, however, it was found that this grade inflation was only a temporary feat. Students were ill-equipped in post-secondary education and rated themselves as having a higher level of competence than their cross-cultural peers despite demonstrating lower performance. The PMA mindset of self-esteem based education was not only unhelpful, but was counterproductive in that it undermined excellence.