People with low self-esteem do not want cheering up, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada found that found that people with low self-esteem likely don't want their loved ones to try to boost their spirits when they are down.

People with low self-esteem tend to have overly negative views of themselves, and often interpret critical feedback, romantic rejections, or unsuccessful job applications as evidence of their general unworthiness.

"People with low self-esteem want their loved ones to see them as they see themselves. As such, they are often resistant to their friends' reminders of how positively they see them and reject what we call positive reframing-expressions of optimism and encouragement for bettering their situation," Professor Denise Marigold, lead author of the study, said in a statement.

These individuals usually prefer negative validation, which conveys that the feelings, actions or responses of the recipient are normal, reasonable, and appropriate to the situation, researchers said.

"So a friend could express understanding about the predicament or for the difficulty of a situation, and suggest that expressing negative emotions is appropriate and understandable," researchers explained in their study.

In their study, the researchers found no evidence that positive reframing helps participants with low self-esteem. And in fact, the people providing support to friends with low self-esteem often felt worse about themselves when they attempted to cheer up their friend.

Some study participants indicated that supporting friends with low self-esteem could be frustrating and tiring.

"If your attempt to point out the silver lining is met with a sullen reminder of the prevailing dark cloud, you might do best to just acknowledge the dark cloud and sympathize," Marigold said.

The findings appear in the new issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.