Looking again, and harder, for a link between low self-esteem and aggression.
Open accessAbstract
ABSTRACT Recent field studies have revived the hypothesis that low self‐esteem causes aggression. Accordingly, we reanalyzed the data from a previous experiment and conducted a new experiment to study direct physical aggression in the form of blasting a fellow participant with aversive noise. We also conducted a field study using a measure of indirect aggression in the form of a consequential negative evaluation. High narcissists were more aggressive than others but only when provoked by insult or humiliation and only toward the source of criticism. The combination of high self‐esteem and high narcissism produced the highest levels of aggression. These results support the view of aggression as stemming from threatened egotism and are inconsistent with the hypothesis that low self‐esteem causes either direct or indirect aggression.
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Individuals with high (unstable) self-esteem are more likely to react aggressively to threats to their ego than individuals with low self-esteem.
“Moreover, prior research shows that it is individuals with high (unstable) self-esteem who are more likely to react aggressively to threats to their ego rather than those with low self-esteem (Bushman and Baumeister, 1998; Bushman et al., 2009).”
From Narcissistic Leaders and Their Victims: Followers Low on Self-Esteem and Low on Core Self-Evaluations Suffer Most (2018) · cites this paper as Bushman et al., 2009
Cites
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BackgroundMethodResultFive domains of interpersonal competence in peer relationships.
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- Authors
- Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., Thomaes, S., Ryu, E., Begeer, S., & West, S. G.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Florida State University (US)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Bushman, Brad J.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-03-05
- Volume
- 77
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 427-446
- ISSN
- 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-6494
- OpenAlex
- W2017674991
- Cited by
- 261
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 27.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- research.vu.nl
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Personality (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- low self-esteem, aggression, narcissism, indirect aggression, negative evaluation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aggression, Defense Mechanisms, Female, Humans, Internal-External Control, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Narcissism, Self Concept, Social Perception, Students
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