Project Description. Considerable evidence indicates that (a) people vary in the extent to which they exhibit short-term fluctuations in feelings of self-worth, and that (b) these differences in self-esteem stability (or fragility) are implicated in a wide range of important psychological phenomena (e.g., depression, anger and hostility proneness). Not much is currently known, however, about why people vary in the extent to which their self-esteem is stable. The proposed research is therefore designed to examine both dispositional and situational factors that may underlie or promote unstable self-esteem. On the dispositional side, studies will test the hypotheses that, compared to people with stable self-esteem, people with unstable self-esteem will (a) have self-regulatory styles that are primarily introjected rather then integrated, (b) pay greater attention to potentially self-evaluative stimuli, (c) react more to feedback even when the task is poorly validated, and (d) have less well-developed self-concepts, as revealed through a variety of indices. On the environmental side, studies will examine how feedback importance and diagnosticity, and contextually heightened ego-involvement, affect individuals' sensitivity and reactivity to evaluative feedback. Finally, additional information will be obtained on the convergent and discriminant validity of self-esteem stability. In sum, the proposed studies will provide considerable insight into the nature of self-evaluative processes, the extent to which these processes vary across individuals, and how they are affected by various environmental conditions. In addition, the research will contribute to greater understanding (and potential treatment) of a wide range of clinically relevant phenomena in which fragile self-esteem is implicated (e.g., depression, anger management). %%% Project Justification. Prior research indicates that people vary in how much their feelings of self-worth fluctuate from day to day, and that these individual differences in self-esteem stability (fragility) are implicated in a wide range of important psychological phenomena (e.g., depression, anger and hostility proneness). Not much is currently known, however, about why people vary in the extent to which their self-esteem is stable. The proposed research is therefore designed to examine both `personality` and situational factors that may underlie or promote unstable self-esteem. The research is expected to provide considerable insight into the nature of self-evaluative processes, the extent to which these processes vary across individuals, and how they are affected by various environmental conditions. In addition, the research will contribute to greater understanding (and potential treatment) of a wide range of clinically relevant phenomena in which fragile self-esteem is implicated, including those related to depression and anger management.
