Skip to main content
Multistudy Report

Structure of Contingent Self-Esteem

Global, Domain-Specific, or Hierarchical Construct?

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000296

Abstract. Contingent Self-Esteem (CSE) has been conceptualized in two different ways in the literature. Some theorists have emphasized that self-esteem may be generally dependent on external outcomes, while others have argued that people’s self-esteem is contingent on experiences related to specific domains (e.g., academic performance). However, relying on a particular definition of CSE may lead to different consequences for both research and practice. In this article, we sought to clarify whether contingent self-esteem represents a global, domain-specific, or hierarchically organized construct. Three large samples of German college students responded to two popular contingent self-esteem instruments and various validity measures. Findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses clearly favored a domain-specific model over unidimensional and hierarchical models. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses in Study 3 indicated that participants’ depression and other important life outcomes could be better predicted by domain-specific facets than by global scores of contingent self-esteem. Compared to previous research, our findings provide a more thorough empirical and conceptual basis for favoring a domain-specific approach to contingent self-esteem. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.

References

  • Beavers, A. S., Lounsbury, J. W., Richards, J. K., Huck, S. W., Skolits, G. J. & Esquivel, S. L. (2013). Practical considerations for using exploratory factor analysis in educational research. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 18, 1–13. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Burwell, R. A. & Shirk, S. R. (2006). Self processes in adolescent depression: The role of self-worth contingencies. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16, 479–490. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Crocker, J., Brook, A. T., Niiya, Y. & Villacorta, M. (2006). The pursuit of self-esteem: Contingencies of self-worth and self-regulation. Journal of Personality, 74, 1749–1772. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • 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, 507–516. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Crocker, J. & Knight, K. M. (2005). Contingencies of self worth. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 200–203. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Crocker, J. & Luhtanen, R. K. (2003). Level of self-esteem and contingencies of self-worth: Unique effects on academic, social, and financial problems in college students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 701–712. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Crocker, J., Luthanen, R. K., Cooper, M. L. & Bouvrette, A. (2003a). Contingencies of self-worth in college students: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 894–908. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Crocker, J. & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593–623. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1995). Human agency: The basis for true self-esteem. In M. H. KernisEd., Efficacy, agency, and self-esteem (pp. 31–50). New York, NY: Plenum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Derogatis, L. R. (1996). SCL-90-R: Symptom checklist-90-R: Administration, scoring, and procedures manual. Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C. & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4, 272–299. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ferring, D. & Filipp, S.-H. (1996). Messung des Selbstwertgefühls: Befunde zu Reliabilität, Validität und Stabilität der Rosenberg-Skala [Measurement of self-esteem: Results on reliability, validity, and stability of the Rosenberg Scale]. Diagnostica, 42, 284–292. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Franke, G. H. (2002). SCL-90-R: Symptom-checkliste von LR Derogatis [SCL-90-R: Symptom checklist of LR Derogatis]. Göttingen, Germany: Beltz Test. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kernis, M. H. (2003). Toward a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 1–26. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kernis, M. H., Lakey, C. E. & Heppner, W. L. (2008). Secure versus fragile high self-esteem as a predictor of verbal defensiveness: Converging findings across three different markers. Journal of Personality, 76, 477–512. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00493.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Marsh, H. W. (1990). A multidimensional, hierarchical self-concept: Theoretical and empirical justification. Educational Psychology Review, 2, 77–172. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • McDonald, R. P. & Ho, M.-H. R. (2002). Principles and practice in reporting structural equation analyses. Psychological Research, 7, 64–82. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Neighbors, C., Larimer, M. E., Geisner, I. M. & Knee, C. R. (2004). Feeling controlled and drinking motives among college students: Contingent self‐esteem as a mediator. Self and Identity, 3, 207–224. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • O’Brien, R. M. (2007). A caution regarding rules of thumb for variance inflation factors. Quality & Quantity, 41, 673–690. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • O’Connor, B. P. (2000). SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and Velicer’s MAP test. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32, 396–402. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Orth, U., Robins, R. W. & Widaman, K. F. (2012). Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1271–1288. doi: 10.1037/a0025558 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Paradise, A. W. & Kernis, M. H. (1999). Development of the Contingent Self-Esteem Scale Unpublished data, University of Georgia. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Park, L. E., Sanchez, D. T. & Brynildsen, K. (2011). Maladaptive responses to relationship dissolution: The role of relationship contingent self-worth. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 1749–1773. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Rothbaum, F., Morling, B. & Rusk, N. (2009). How goals and beliefs lead people into and out of depression. Review of General Psychology, 13, 302–314. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Russell, D. W. (2002). In search of underlying dimensions: The use (and abuse) of factor analysis in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1626–1646. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Sargent, J. T., Crocker, J. & Luhtanen, R. K. (2006). Contingencies of self-worth and depressive symptoms in college students. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25, 628–646. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Schwinger, M. (2008). Selbstwertregulation im Lernprozess: Determinanten und Auswirkungen von Self-Handicapping [Self-worth regulation in the learning process: Antecedents and consequences of self-handicapping]. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Giessen, Germany). First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schwinger, M. (submitted). Eine deutsche Fassung der Selbst-wertkontingenz-Skalen [A German version of the Contingencies of Self-worth Scales]. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Spearman, C. (1904). “General intelligence”, objectively determined and measured. The American Journal of Psychology, 15, 201–293. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Thurstone, L. L. (1938). Primary mental abilities. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Wood, J. V., Heimpel, S. A., Manwell, L. A. & Wittington, E. J. (2009). This mood is familiar and I don’t deserve to feel better anyway: Mechanisms underlying self-esteem differences in motivation to repair sad moods. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 363–380. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wouters, S., Duriez, B., Luyckx, K., Klimstra, T., Colpin, H., Soenens, B. & Verschueren, K. (2013). Depressive symptoms in university freshmen: Longitudinal relations with contingent self-esteem and level of self-esteem. Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 356–363. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar