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Cited by 336Social and Intergroup PsychologyPersonality Traits and PsychologyDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Self-esteem and direct versus indirect forms of self-enhancement.

Brown, Jonathon D., Collins, Rebecca L., Schmidt, Greg W.·1988·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.55.3.445
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Abstract

Two studies explored the relation between self-esteem and self-enhancement biases. It was proposed that people with high self-esteem engage in forms of self-enhancement in which the self is directly linked to positive identities and outcomes, whereas people with low self-esteem engage in forms of self-enhancement in which the self is indirectly linked to positive identities and outcomes. To test the hypothesis, we examined group favoritism as a function of self-esteem and group involvement. As expected, high self-esteem subjects were most apt to display favoritism when they were directly involved in group processes, whereas low self-esteem subjects were most apt to display favoritism when they were not directly involved in group processes. Furthermore, consistent with the view that these tendencies reflect a motivated desire to enhance self-worth, these effects were less evident after subjects had received positive feedback than after they had received negative feedback. The discussion centers on the nature of high and low self-esteem and the influence of self-enhancement and self-consistency motives in social behavior. Conventional wisdom holds that self-serving biases are principally the refuge of those with low self-esteem. This position, typically referred to as self-enhancement theory (Shrauger, 1975), is based on the notion that all individuals are motivated to maintain a positive self-concept, and that the need for selfenhancement increases the more the desire to think favorably of the self goes unfulfilled. In their efforts to shore up a negative self-image, those with low self-esteem are presumed to distort and bias personal information in a self-enhancing direction (cf. Dittes, 1959; Jones, 1973; Kaplan, 1975). In contrast to the preceding view, which holds that self-enhancement biases are more prevalent among those with low self-esteem than among those with high self-esteem, other theories suggest that individuals with high self-esteem are more apt to display evidence of self-enhancement. Self-consistency theorists

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Metadata

Authors
Brown, J. D., Collins, R. L., & Schmidt, G. W.
Affiliations
Southern Methodist University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1988-09
Volume
55
Issue
3
Pages
445-453
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
DOI
10.1037/0022-3514.55.3.445
OpenAlex
W2160288372
Cited by
336
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 8
FWCI
33.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Funders
Southern Methodist University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
Keywords
self-esteem, self-enhancement, self-serving bias, in-group favoritism, group participation, positive feedback, negative feedback, self-consistency, self-concept, self-enhancement theory

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