Cited by 2,007Personality Traits and PsychologyPsychometric Methodologies and TestingPsychological Testing and Assessment

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Development and validation of a scale for measuring state self-esteem.

Heatherton, Todd F., Polivy, Janet·1991·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.60.6.895

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Abstract

This article examines the measurement of short-lived (i.e., state) changes in self-esteem. A new scale is introduced that is sensitive to manipulations designed to temporarily alter self-esteem, and 5 studies are presented that support the scale's validity. The State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES) consists of 20 items modified from the widely used Janis-Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale (Janis & Field, 1959). Psychometric analyses revealed that the SSES has 3 correlated factors: performance, social, and appearance self-esteem. Effects of naturally occurring and laboratory failure and of clinical treatment on SSES scores were examined; it was concluded that the SSES is sensitive to these sorts of manipulations. The scale has many potential uses, which include serving as a valid manipulation check index, measuring clinical change in self-esteem, and untangling the confounded relation between mood and self-esteem. There has been a resurgence of interest in examining whether aspects of the self-concept are stable or malleable (Markus & Kunda, 1986). On the one hand, there is considerable evidence that the self-concept is persistent and stable and that people will actively seek information that confirms their self-concept and reject information that threatens their general view of self

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Stewart, D. W., de Vries, J., Singer, D. L., Degen, G. G., & Wener, P. F. (2006) · Journal of Dental Education · doi:10.1002/j.0022-0337.2006.70.9.tb04168.x · Cited by 60
Contingent self-worth and Facebook addiction
Kanat-Maymon, Y., Almog, L., Cohen, R., & Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.011 · Cited by 57
Weight‐related and shape‐related self‐evaluation in eating‐disordered and non–eating‐disordered women
McFarlane, T., McCabe, R. E., Jarry, J. L., Olmsted, M. P., & Polivy, J. (2001) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.1026 · Cited by 60
“…the following self-report questionnaires: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965; measures trait self-esteem), the State SelfEsteem Scale (Heatherton & Polivy, 1991), the Shape and Weight-Based Self-Esteem Inventory (Geller et al., 1997), and the Restraint Scale (Herman & Polivy, 1980).”
MethodSelf-citation
Which model looks most like me? Explicating the impact of body image advertisements on female consumer well-being and consumption behaviour across brand categories
Lou, C., & Tse, C. H. (2020) · International Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/02650487.2020.1822059 · Cited by 59
“Statements measuring appearance-related self-esteem include item such as ‘I feel pleased with my appearance right now’ (Cronbach’s a¼ 0.91) (Heatherton and Polivy 1991).”
BackgroundInfluential
Pre-dialysis patients' perceived autonomy, self-esteem and labor participation: associations with illness perceptions and treatment perceptions. A cross-sectional study
the PREPARE-2 Study Group, Jansen, D. L., Grootendorst, D. C., Rijken, M., Heijmans, M., Kaptein, A. A., Boeschoten, E. W., & Dekker, F. W. (2010) · BMC Nephrology · doi:10.1186/1471-2369-11-35 · Cited by 59
“State self-esteem was measured with the Current Thoughts Scale [29], which comprises 20 items (e.g. ‘I am worried about what other people think of me’ (reverse scored)).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Outgroup Accountability in the Minimal Group Paradigm: Implications for Aversive Discrimination and Social Identity Theory
Dobbs, M., & Crano, W. D. (2001) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167201273009 · Cited by 59
“When participants finished reading the cover page, they were instructed to answer 10 items taken from Heatherton and Polivy’s (1991) State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES) and then to read, as the experimenter carefully recited aloud, the instructions for completing the allocation matrices that followed.”
BackgroundMethod
Self-esteem and outcome fairness: Differential importance of procedural and outcome considerations.
Vermunt, R. C., van Knippenberg, D., van Knippenberg, B., & Blaauw, E. (2001) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.86.4.621 · Cited by 62
"I Love Me ... I Love Me Not:" Implicit Self-Esteem, Explicit Self-Esteem, and Defensiveness
Spencer, S. J., Fein, S., Zanna, M. P., & Olson, J. M. (2003) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410606679-11 · Cited by 59
The relative impacts of experiential and transformational benefits on consumer-brand relationship
Hamidi, S. T., & Shobeiri, S. (2016) · Journal of Product & Brand Management · doi:10.1108/jpbm-07-2015-0925 · Cited by 58
Optimal Self–esteem is Contingent: Intrinsic versus Extrinsic and Upward versus Downward Contingencies
Vonk, R., & Smit, H. (2011) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.817 · Cited by 62
“Like Kernis c.s., to assess state self-esteem on multiple occasions we used the Heatherton and Polivy (1991) scale (e.g. ‘I feel concerned about the impression I am making’).”
Method
Identity moderates the effects of Christmas displays on mood, self-esteem, and inclusion
Schmitt, M. T., Davies, K., Hung, M., & Wright, S. C. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.05.026 · Cited by 55
State Self-Esteem Following Stroke
Chang, A. M., & Mackenzie, A. (1998) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/01.str.29.11.2325 · Cited by 58
Experimentally Increasing Self-Continuity Improves Subjective Well-Being and Protects against Self-Esteem Deterioration from an Ego-Deflating Task
Sokol, Y., & Serper, M. R. (2019) · Identity · doi:10.1080/15283488.2019.1604350 · Cited by 57
“The State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES, Heatherton & Polivy, 1991) is a measure frequently used to assess laboratory manipulations of self-esteem.”
Method
Social Identity Threat in Response to Stereotypic Film Portrayals: Effects on Self‐Conscious Emotion and Implicit Ingroup Attitudes
Schmader, T., Block, K., & Lickel, B. A. (2015) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/josi.12096 · Cited by 57
“State self-esteem (Heatherton & Polivy, 1991) was measured in terms of social self-esteem (7 items, e.g., I worry about what other people think of me—reverse scored, α = 0.86, M = 5.01, SD = 1.28) and performance self-esteem (7 items, e.g., I feel confident about my abilities, α = 0.85, M = 5.42,…”
MethodInfluential
Competition and Male Body Image: Increased Drive for Muscularity Following Failure to a Female
Mills, J. S., & D'alfonso, S. R. (2007) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2007.26.4.505 · Cited by 57
Distinguishing institutional identification from academic goal pursuit: Interactive effects of ethnic identification and race-based rejection sensitivity.
Mendoza‐Denton, R., Pietrzak, J., & Downey, G. (2008) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.338 · Cited by 57
Imagining thin: Why vanity sizing works
Aydınoğlu, N. Z., & Krishna, A. (2012) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.12.001 · Cited by 57
Performance Brand Placebos: How Brands Improve Performance and Consumers Take the Credit
Garvey, A. M., Germann, F., & Bolton, L. E. (2015) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucv094 · Cited by 59
The self-protective and undermining effects of attributional ambiguity
Hoyt, C. L., Aguilar, L., Kaiser, C. R., Blascovich, J., & Lee, K. (2006) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2006.10.013 · Cited by 57
“Items were adapted from depressed affect and self-esteem scales (e.g., the MAACL, Heatherton & Polivy, 1991; Lubin, Zuckerman, & Woodward, 1985).”
Method
Low Self-Esteem as a Risk Factor for Eating Disorders: A Meta-Analysis
Colmsee, I.-S. O., Hank, P., & Bošnjak, M. (2021) · Zeitschrift für Psychologie · doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000433 · Cited by 68
What You Get is What You See: Other-Rated but not Self-Rated Leaders’ Narcissistic Rivalry Affects Followers Negatively
Fehn, T., & Schütz, A. (2020) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-020-04604-3 · Cited by 64
Interoceptive Awareness as a Moderator of Affective Responses to Social Exclusion
Werner, N. S., Kerschreiter, R., Kindermann, N. K., & Duschek, S. (2013) · Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1027/0269-8803/a000086 · Cited by 66
Who Is Most Vulnerable to Social Rejection? The Toxic Combination of Low Self-Esteem and Lack of Negative Emotion Differentiation on Neural Responses to Rejection
Kashdan, T. B., DeWall, C. N., Masten, C. L., Pond, R. S., Powell, C. A. J., Combs, D., Schurtz, D. R., & Farmer, A. S. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090651 · Cited by 63
“11), which is consistent with previously published scores [13,42].”
Result
When Apologies for Injustice Matter
David De Cremer, A., & Schouten, B. C. (2008) · European Psychologist · doi:10.1027/1016-9040.13.4.239 · Cited by 55
Trait self-esteem and neural activities related to self-evaluation and social feedback
Yang, J., Xu, X., Chen, Y., Shi, Z., & Han, S. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep20274 · Cited by 60
Further Examining Berry’s Model
Fox, R. S., Merz, E. L., Solorzano, M. T., & Roesch, S. C. (2013) · Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development · doi:10.1177/0748175613497036 · Cited by 59
“State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES; Heatherton & Polivy, 1991).”
A review of contemporary assessment tools for use with transgender and gender nonconforming adults.
Shulman, G. P., Holt, N. R., Hope, D. A., Mocarski, R. A., Eyer, J. C., & Woodruff, N. (2017) · Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity · doi:10.1037/sgd0000233 · Cited by 63
“32) as assessed by the Heatherton and Polivy (1991) State Self Esteem Scale. This negative association with social situation self-esteem was surprising. Lastly, the perceived stigma associated with misgendering was unrelated to the TCS. Strengths and limitations. The TCS is a short measure of only 12 items related to…”
MethodInfluential
Development of domain-specific self-evaluations: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.
Orth, U., Dapp, L. C., Erol, R. Y., Krauss, S., & Luciano, E. C. (2020) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspp0000378 · Cited by 65
“We note that the focus of the present research is on trait, not state, domain-specific self-evaluations (for a measure of state self-evaluations, see Heatherton & Polivy, 1991).”
Background
Social Anxiety and the Cued Activation of Relational Knowledge
Baldwin, M. W., & Main, K. (2001) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672012712007 · Cited by 56
“Next, participants completed the State Self-Esteem Scale, which contains items such as, “I feel inferior to others at this moment” and “I feel good about myself” (Heatherton & Polivy, 1991).”
Method

Authors: Heatherton, T. F., & Polivy, J.
Affiliations: Harvard University (US)
ORCID: Heatherton, Todd F.
Polivy, Janet
Venue: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1991-06
Volume: 60
Issue: 6
Pages: 895-910
ISSN: 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
1939-1315
DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.60.6.895
OpenAlex: W1984877678
Cited by: 2,007
References: 79
Citations by year: 2026: 58 · 2025: 63 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 78 · 2022: 96 · 2021: 92 · 2020: 83 · 2019: 96 · 2018: 101 · 2017: 85 · 2016: 85 · 2015: 90 · 2014: 94 · 2013: 74 · 2012: 82
FWCI: 9.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
Keywords: state self-esteem, self-esteem measurement, scale development, performance self-esteem, social self-esteem, appearance self-esteem, manipulation checks, self-concept stability

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Development and validation of a scale for measuring state self-esteem.

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