Over a century ago, William James suggested that people are selective about what events affect their self-esteem; they invest their self-esteem in succeeding at some things, whereas their success at other endeavors has no impact on their self-esteem.
Crocker and Wolfe (2001) called those domains in which self-esteem is invested contingencies of self-worth. They proposed that good and bad events in domains of contingent self-worth raise or lower momentary feelings of self-esteem around a person’s typical or trait level of self-esteem, and these fluctuations in state self-esteem have motivational consequences. Increases in self-esteem feel good, and decreases in self-esteem feel bad. Therefore, regardless of whether they typically have high or low self-esteem, people seek the emotional high associated with success in domains of contingent self-worth, and want to avoid the emotional lows that accompany failure in these domains. Consequently, contingencies of self-worth regulate behavior.
We have investigated the domains in which college students commonly invest their self-esteem, including appearance, others’ approval, outperforming others, academics, family support, virtue, and religious faith, or God’s love. Basing self-esteem on more external factors such as appearance, others’ approval, or academics has more negative consequences than basing it on internal factors such as virtue or God’s love. And in contrast to most researchers who argue that self-esteem is a fundamental human need, and therefore people need to pursue self-esteem (Pyszczynski et al., 2004; Sheldon, 2004) , we argue that pursuing self-esteem by attempting to prove that one is a success in domains of contingency is costly (Crocker & Park, 2004) .
Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593-623. abstract
Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R. K., Cooper, M. L., & Bouvrette, S. (2003). Contingencies of self-worth in college students: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85 (5), 894-908. abstract
Crocker, J., & Knight, K. M. (in press). Current Directions in Psychological Science. abstract
The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem
Contingencies of self-worth shape long-term and short-term goals. People want to prove that they are a success, not a failure, in domains of contingent self-worth, because that would mean they are worthy and valuable; in other words, they have self-validation goals in these domains (Crocker & Park, 2004) . When they are not sure that success is possible or failure can be avoided, they will disengage from the task, deciding it doesn’t matter, rather than suffer the loss of self-esteem that accompanies failure in these domains. Pursuing self-esteem has costs for learning, relationships, autonomy, self-regulation, and mental health.
Students who base their self-esteem on their academic accomplishments typically have self-validation goals in this domain, viewing their schoolwork as an opportunity to demonstrate their intelligence. Because failure in domains of contingency threatens self-esteem, people try to avoid failure by increasing effort; if they are still uncertain of success, they may abandon their self-validation goal and become amotivated, or prepare excuses to soften the blow to self-esteem in case they fail. When they do fail in these domains, people deflect the threat to self-esteem with defensive maneuvers such as making excuses or blaming others. When failure in domains of contingency cannot be dismissed with defensive responses, self-esteem decreases. Consequently, contingencies of self-worth are both a source of motivation and a psychological vulnerability (Crocker, 2002).
Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin, 130 (3), 392-414. abstract
Crocker, J. (2002). The costs of seeking self-esteem. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 597-615. abstract
Crocker, J., Sommers, S., & Luhtanen, R. (2002). Hopes dashed and dreams fulfilled: Contingencies of self-worth in the graduate school admissions process. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1275-1286. abstract
Crocker, J., Karpinski, A., Quinn, D. M., & Chase, S. (2003). When grades determine self-worth: Consequences of contingent self-worth for male and female engineering and psychology majors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85 (3), 507-516. abstract
Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). Reaping the benefits of pursuing self-esteem without the costs? Response to comments on Crocker & Park (2004). Psychological Bulletin, 130 (3), 430-434. abstract
Park, L. E., & Crocker, J. (in press). Interpersonal consequences of seeking self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin. abstract
Egosystem and Ecosystem Goals in Intergroup Relations
Our current research explores the egosystem/ecosystem motivational framework for intergroup relations. We argue that intergroup relations are difficult and problematic largely because the intergroup context easily triggers egosystem motivations. On the one hand, people with devalued identities may be concerned about being stereotyped, devalued, rejected, or discriminated against because of their social identity, and feel the need to protect themselves, and their egos, from those possibilities. On the other hand, people with valued social identities may fear that they will be accused of prejudice, discrimination, or unconscious bias against outgroup members, and may also have concerns about living up to the positive stereotypes of their group. These egosystem concerns, we argue, can create downward spirals in intergroup interactions. Ecosystem goals, we suggest, can provide a way out of these downward spirals.
Crocker, J., Garcia, J. A., & Nuer, N. (in press). From egosystem to ecosystem in intergroup interactions: implications for intergroup reconciliation. Chapter to appear in J. Fisher, A. Nadler, & T. Molloy, Intergroup Reconciliation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
full text (.pdf)
Crocker, J., & Garcia, J. A. (in press). Stigma and the social basis of the self: A synthesis. Chapter to appear in Levin, S., & van Laar, C. (Eds). The Claremont Symposium: Stigma from the Target’s Perspective.
full text (.pdf)
Crocker, J., & Garcia, J. A. (in press). Self-esteem and the stigma of obesity. Chapter to appear in Puhl, R., Schwartz, M., & Brownell, K. (Eds.). Bias, discrimination, and obesity. New York: Guilford.
full text (.pdf)
Learning Orientations as an Alternative to Egosystem Motivation
According to the self-worth theory of achievement motivation (Covington, 1992) , achievement behavior in schools reflects students’ attempts to maintain self-esteem by constructing an image of themselves as academically competent. For students whose self-worth is contingent on academic success, investing effort in academics is threatening because failure combined with effort suggests a lack of ability, which diminishes self-worth. Consequently, academically contingent students sacrifice learning and avoid the esteem-threatening implications of failure, by lowering aspirations, creating excuses for failure, avoiding effort, cheating, or psychologically disengaging. The main goal of the project is to investigate whether and when learning orientations (beliefs that intelligence can improve, mastery goals, knowledge goals and learning from failure goals) buffer students with contingent self-worth from self-threat in the face of academic difficulty, and therefore enhance learning, decrease stress, vulnerability of self-esteem, and cheating, and improve mental and physical health outcomes, especially for populations at risk (e.g., women in nontraditional fields such as engineering).
Niiya, Y., Crocker, J., & Bartmess, E.N. (2004). From vulnerability to resilience; learning orientations buffer contingent self-esteem from failure. Psychological Science, 15 (12), 801-805. abstract
