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Research explores the consequences of boosting self-esteem when it is not justified. When self-esteem is artificially boosted, it reduces performance and effort — as people seek to protect the fragile gain in self-esteem by withdrawing from effort and the risk of failure. When self-esteem is diminished without justification, people appear to work harder to retrieve lost feelings of self-worth.

It's been a year of complacency deferred and sleeping giants roused. So it's only natural that much of 2017's best music would reflect that tumult, albeit in radically different ways.

These 10 albums plumb emotional depths, deliver powerful messages and, just when you need them most, soothe worried minds in a year when a bit of calm is a priceless commodity.

In terms of pop hits, the shadow of 2013 fell over most of 2014. But for NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, there were plenty of winners this year as well.

Also: There are reports that Boko Haram killed hundreds of Nigerians in one attack; pinging is heard from a submerged AirAsia jet; and gospel legend Andrae Crouch has died.

Though the gap between spending and revenues has narrowed, it has stayed above the $1 trillion mark.

Also: Osama bin Laden's son-in-law due in Manhattan court; the two Koreas ratchet up rhetoric; Catholic cardinals expected to set date for start of conclave; Northeast braces for more snow and flooding.

Also: Suspect in ricin letters described as conspiracist and Elvis impersonator; North Korea "sets conditions" for return to talks; and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords expresses her anger after gun bills fail in Senate.

Also: There's a report that Syria used chemical weapons in the civil war; France's embassy in Libya is bombed; a hearing continues today for the suspect in the ricin letters case; and the beloved oaks at Auburn University can't be saved from poisoning and must be cut down.

Also: International Monetary Fund warns of greater risk of global recession; Romney gets boost in Pew poll; security tight as German chancellor visits Greece; Felix Baumgartner's record skydive on hold.