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The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem

Crocker, Jennifer, Park, Lora E.·2004·Psychological Bulletin

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Abstract

Researchers have recently questioned the benefits associated with having high self-esteem. The authors propose that the importance of self-esteem lies more in how people strive for it rather than whether it is high or low. They argue that in domains in which their self-worth is invested, people adopt the goal to validate their abilities and qualities, and hence their self-worth. When people have self-validation goals, they react to threats in these domains in ways that undermine learning; relatedness; autonomy and self-regulation; and over time, mental and physical health. The short-term emotional benefits of pursuing self-esteem are often outweighed by long-term costs. Previous research on self-esteem is reinterpreted in terms of self-esteem striving. Cultural roots of the pursuit of self-esteem are considered. Finally, the alternatives to pursuing self-esteem, and ways of avoiding its costs, are discussed.

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“When indivi- duals invest their self-worth in a given domain, they seek to validate those qualities on which their self-worth is based (Crocker & Park, 2004; Park, Crocker, & Vohs, 2006).”
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“Moreover, PBSE has in various studies been found to be strongly associated with burnout (Blom, 2012; Hallsten, 2005; Rudman and Gustavsson, 2011) and contingent self-esteem has been related to depression (Crocker and Park, 2004; Lakey et al., 2014).”
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“When an individual perceives failure and believes that this might not be adequately addressed by restorative or corrective action, they may undertake compensatory behaviours in another area of life where success seems more likely (Crocker and Park, 2004).”
Background
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“…their self-esteem after being existentially threatened (Pyszczynski et al., 2004) and (ii) research showing that sadistic behaviours, like harming and aggressively dominating others, serve a self-esteem enhancing function (Baumeister et al., 1996, Crocker & Park, 2004, Crocker et al., 2004).”
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“Findings like these have led some reviewers to conclude that, on balance, high self-esteem burdens society (Baumeister et al., 1996; see also Crocker & Park, 2004).”
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“For one of the core traits, self-esteem, negative consequences have already been discussed in the literature (Crocker & Park, 2004).”
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“Assessments of oneself as being a worthy and deserving individual can easily be undermined by contrary feedback from others, at times precipitating defensive or narcis-sistic responses in an effort to reinforce the self (Baumeister et al., 1993, 2003; Crocker & Park, 2004).”
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“Individuals may maximize the significance of their views to enhance self-evaluations and desired social identities (Crocker & Park, 2004).”
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“Contingent self-worth refers to a person’s judgment of their self-worth being directly tied to success or failure in specific realms (Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, & Bouvrette, 2003; Crocker & Park, 2004; Crocker & Knight, 2005).”
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“Consequently, they are less concerned about avoiding failure and are more likely to (a) adopt approach goals with regard to self-esteem (Crocker & Park, 2004); (b) react to threats by emphasizing their skills, seeking competency feedback, and becoming more independent (Vohs & Heatherton, 2001); and…”
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Authors: Crocker, J., & Park, L. E.
Affiliations: University of Michigan (US)
ORCID: Crocker, Jennifer
Park, Lora E.
Venue: Psychological Bulletin
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 2004-05
Volume: 130
Issue: 3
Pages: 392-414
ISSN: 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
1939-1455
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.392
OpenAlex: W2139936398
Semantic Scholar: 924706e15f8baf8a3f9cec05a301a422a2f47c1f
Cited by: 1,402
References: 305
Citations by year: 2026: 41 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 70 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 72 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 73 · 2015: 68 · 2014: 75 · 2013: 83 · 2012: 62
FWCI: 5.49
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Institutes of Health (1k02mh001747-01a1)
National Institute of Mental Health (K02 MH01747-01, R01 MH5886901)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
Keywords: self-esteem, self-worth, learning, relatedness, autonomy, self-regulation, mental health, physical health
MeSH terms: Culture, Emotions, Goals, Humans, Internal-External Control, Interpersonal Relations, Motivation, Self Concept, Social Behavior, Social Perception, Time

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The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem

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