Abstract
Historically, researchers have conceptualized self-esteem as global self-evaluation; recently, others have suggested that people are selective about what affects their self-worth. Two studies (N = 1,032) used a person-centered approach to examine how six domains of self-worth contingency associate with well-being, virtue, and value outcomes. Latent profile analyses indicated five distinct profiles. Non-contingents (lowest contingency in all domains) reported good well-being outcomes, low self-transcendence and self-enhancement values, and gave the least in a behavioral measure of generosity. Moral Contingents (high contingency in a moral domain; low contingency in other domains) reported the greatest well-being, purpose/meaning, performance virtues, and prosocial virtues, and high self-transcendence and low self-enhancement values. High Contingents (highest contingency in all domains) reported the worst well-being, second-highest others-focused compassion, and high self-transcendence and self-enhancement values. Medium Contingents (moderate contingency in all domains) reported the second-worst ill-being, second-highest purpose, second-highest performance and prosocial virtues, and high self-transcendent and self-enhancement values. Low Contingents (low contingency in all domains) reported the lowest purpose and basic needs satisfaction, and high self-enhancement and low self-transcendent values. Implications for optimal self-esteem and values are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
De-identified data and materials are available at https://osf.io/frvpe/.
Notes
An additional hypothesis regarding profile associations with religion/spirituality was preregistered. In addition, five measures of religion/spirituality were assessed. However, as described in Study 1 Results, because our sample was fairly nonreligious, we did not observe sufficient variability in measures of religion/spirituality (i.e., floor effect), and so for the sake of parsimony, we do not report findings related to religion/spirituality.
References
Algoe, S. B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The ‘other-praising’ emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(2), 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802650519
Baehr, J. (2017). The varieties of character and some implications for character education. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46, 1153–1161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0654-z
Battaly, H. (2015). Virtue. Polity.
Baumeister, R. F., Campbell, J. D., Krueger, J. I., & Vohs, K. D. (2003). Does high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or healthier lifestyles? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(1), 1–44.
Bounds, E. M., Nelson, J. M., Melton, K. K., Glanzer, P. L., & Schnitker, S. A. (2023). Religiosity Moderates Goal Courage and Self-Worth in Collegiate Christian Athletes. Religions, 14(10), 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101223
Bronk, K. C., Riches, B. R., & Mangan, S. A. (2018). Claremont Purpose Scale: A measure that assesses the three dimensions of purpose among adolescents. Research in Human Development, 15(2), 101–117.
Conroy, D. E. (2001). Fear of failure: An exemplar for social development research in sport. Quest, 53, 165–183.
Conroy, D. E., Willow, J. P., & Metzler, J. N. (2002). Multidimensional fear of failure measurement: The performance failure appraisal inventory. Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, 14(2), 76–90.
Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem. W. H. Freeman.
Costin, V., & Vignoles, V. L. (2020). Meaning is about mattering: Evaluating coherence, purpose, and existential mattering as precursors of meaning in life judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences, 118(4), 864–884.
Crocker, J. (2002a). Contingencies of self-worth: Implications for self-regulation and psychological vulnerability. Self and Identity, 1, 143–149.
Crocker, J. (2002b). The costs of seeking self-esteem. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 597–615.
Crocker, J., Brook, A. T., Niiya, Y., & Villacorta, M. (2006). The pursuit of self-esteem: Contingencies of self-worth and self-regulation. Journal of Personality, 74(6), 1749–1772. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00427.x
Crocker, J., & Knight, K. M. (2005). Contingencies of Self-worth. Current Directions, 14(4), 200–203.
Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R. K., Cooper, M. L., & Bouvrette, A. (2003). Contingencies of self-worth in college students: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(5), 894–908.
Crocker, J., Niiya, Y., & Mischkowski, D. (2008). Why does writing about important values reduce defensiveness? Self-affirmation and the role of positive, other-directed feelings. Psychological Science, 19, 740–747.
Crocker, J., & Nuer, N. (2003). The insatiable quest for self-worth. Psychological Inquiry, 14(1), 31–34.
Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2003). Seeking self-esteem: Construction, maintenance, and protection of self-worth. In M. Leary & J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of Self and Identity (pp. 291–313). Guilford Press.
Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin, 130(3), 392–414. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.392
Crocker, J., Sommers, S. R., & Luhtanen, R. K. (2002). Hopes dashed and dreams fulfilled: Contingencies of self-worth and graduate school admissions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(9), 1275–1286.
Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108(3), 593–623.
Davidson, M. (2004). Developing performance character and moral character in youth. The Fourth and Fifth Rs: Respect and Responsibility, 10(2), 6.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1995). Human agency: The basis for true self-esteem. In M. H. Kemis (Ed.), Efficacy, agency, and self-esteem (pp. 31–50). Plenum.
Diseth, Å., Meland, E., & Breidablik, H. J. (2014). Self-beliefs among students: Grade level and gender differences in self-esteem, self-efficacy and implicit theories of intelligence. Learning and Individual Differences, 35, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.06.003
Dweck, C. S. (1996). Capturing the dynamic nature of personality. Journal of Research on Personality, 30, 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1996.0024
Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: A word from two perspectives. Psychological Inquiry, 6, 267. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0604_1
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychology Review, 95, 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256
Finch, W. H., & Bronk, K. C. (2011). Conducting confirmatory latent class analysis using M plus. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 18(1), 132–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2011.532732
Glazer, J. V., Oleson, T., Campoverde, C., & Berenson, K. R. (2021). Effects of affirming values on self-compassion and mental health treatment stigma. Stigma and Health.
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362.
Hardy, S. A., & Carlo, G. (2005). Identity as a source of moral motivation. Human Development, 48, 232–256. https://doi.org/10.1159/000086859
Hardy, S. A., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Carlo, G. (2008). Parenting dimensions and adolescents’ internalization of moral values. Journal of Moral Education, 37, 205–223.
Henry, J. D., & Crawford, J. R. (2005). The short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Construct validity and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44(2), 227–239.
Houltberg, B. J., Wang, K. T., Qi, W., & Nelson, C. S. (2018). Self-narrative profiles of elite athletes and comparisons on psychological well-being. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 89, 354–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2018.1481919
Houltberg, B. J., Wang, K., & Schnitker, S. A. (2017). Religiousness and perceived God perfectionism among elite athletes. Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sport Studies, 4, 29–46.
Howard, M. C., & Alipour, K. K. (2014). Does the courage measure really measure courage? A theoretical and empirical evaluation. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(5), 449–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.910828
Johnston, M. M., & Finney, S. J. (2010). Measuring basic needs satisfaction: Evaluating previous research and conducting new psychometric evaluations of the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(4), 280–296.
Kärchner, H., & Schwinger, M. (2018). Self-esteem profiles and their correlates in the context of learning and achievement: A latent profile analysis. German Journal of Educational Psychology, 2(3), 171–186.
Kernis, M. H. (2003). Toward a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 1–26.
Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1245–1267.
Leary, M. R., Tambor, E. S., Terdal, S. K., & Downs, D. L. (1999). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), The Self in Social Psychology (pp. 87–104). Taylor & Francis.
Lee, Y.-H., Cheng, C.-Y., & Lin, S. S. J. (2014). A latent profile analysis of self-control and self-esteem and the grouping effect on adolescent quality of life across two consecutive years. Social Indicators Research, 117(2), 523–539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0360-5
Lindsay, E. K., & Creswell, J. D. (2014). Helping the self help others: Self-affirmation increases self-compassion and pro-social behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 421. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00421
Liu, C.-H., & Huang, P.-S. (2018). Contingencies of self-worth on positive and negative events and their relationships to depression. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02372
Liu, T. I., & Steele, C. M. (1986). Attributional analysis as self-affirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 531–540.
Luhtanen, R., & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective self-esteem scale: Self-evaluation of one’s social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(3), 302–318.
McCullough, M. E., Tsang, J., & Emmons, R. A. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 112–127.
McQueen, A., & Klein, W. M. (2006). Experimental manipulations of self-affirmation: A systematic review. Self and Identity, 5, 289–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860600805325
Muthén, L.K. and Muthén, B.O. (1998–2017). Mplus User’s Guide. 8th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
Neff, K. (2003). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223–250.
Niiya, Y., Brook, A. T., & Crocker, J. (2010). Contingent self-worth and self-handicapping: Do incremental theorists protect self-esteem? Self and Identity, 9, 276–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860903054233
Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(4), 535–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701575396
Nylund-Gibson, K., & Choi, A. Y. (2018). Ten frequently asked questions about latent class analysis. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4(4), 440–461. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000176
Park, L., Ward, D. E., Naragon-Gainey, K., Fujita, K., & Koefler, N. (2022). I’m still spending: Financial contingency of self-worth predicts financial motivational conflict and compulsive buying. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221119356
Pelham, B. W. (1991). On the benefits of misery: Self-serving biases in the depressive self-concept. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 670–681.
Pelham, B. W. (1995). Self-investment and self-esteem: Evidence for a Jamesian model of self-worth. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1141–1150.
Pommier, E., Neff, K. D., & Tóth-Király, I. (2020). The Development and validation of the compassion scale. Assessment, 27(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/107319111987410
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Goldenberg, J. L. (2003). Freedom versus fear: On the defense, growth, and expansion of the self. In Handbook of self and identity (pp. 314–343). The Guilford Press.
Ratchford, J. L., Cazzell, A., Wood, E. K., Owens, B. P., Quinn, R. E., & Schnitker, S. A. (2023a). The virtue counterbalancing circumplex model: An illustration with patience & courage. The Journal of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2178960
Ratchford, J. L., Ming, M. S., Lee, Y., Jackson, J., Wood, M., & Schnitker, S. A. (2023b). A person-centered approach to basic human values: Using q-sorts to investigate the value circumplex. Personality and Individual Differences, 206, 112111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112111
Ratchford, J. L., Williams, E. G., Bishara, L., Houltberg, B. J., & Schnitker, S. A. (2021). Mindset as characteristic adaptations: Using response surface analysis to assess mindset in the personality system. Frontiers, 12, 701510. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701510
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.
Sargent, J. T., Crocker, J., & Luhtanen, R. K. (2006). Contingencies of self-worth and symptoms of depression in college students. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25, 628–646.
Schnitker, S. A. (2012). An examination of patience and well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(4), 263–280.
Schnitker, S. A., Houltberg, B. J., Ratchford, J. L., & Wang, K. T. (2020). Dual pathways from religiousness to the virtue of patience versus anxiety among elite athletes. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12, 294–303. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000289
Schnitker, S. A., King, P. E., & Houltberg, B. (2019). Religion, spirituality, and thriving: Transcendent narrative, virtue, and telos. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29(2), 276–290. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12443
Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1), 1116. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116
Schwartz, S., Melech, G., Lehmann, A., Burgess, S., Harris, M., & Owens, V. (2001). Extending the cross-cultural validity of the theory of basic human values with a different method of measurement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 519–542.
Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L. (2006). The psychology of self‐defense: Self‐affirmation theory. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 38, pp. 183–242). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38004-5
Shubert, J., Houltberg, B., Ratchford, J., & Schnitker, S. (2022). Examinations of change in inhibitory and initiatory Self-Control in the context of endurance running. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2020.1787553
Simmons, J. P., Nelson, L. D., & Simonsohn, U. (2012). A 21 Word Solution. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2160588
Slaney, R. B., Rice, K. G., Mobley, M., Trippi, J., & Ashby, J. S. (2001). The Revised Almost Perfect Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34(3), 130–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2002.12069030
Smith, C., & Hill, J. P. (2009). Toward the measurement of Interpersonal Generosity (IG): An IG scale conceptualized, tested, and validated. Unpublished monograph. http://generosityresearch.nd.edu/assets/13798/ig_paper_smith_hill_rev.pdf
Smith, M. M., Saklofske, D. H., Stoeber, J., & Sherry, S. B. (2016). The big three perfectionism scale: A new measure of perfectionism. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(7), 670–687.
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T., Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle, C., & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(4), 570–585.
Ståhlberg, J., Tuominen, H., Pulkka, A.-T., & Niemivirta, M. (2019). Maintaining the self? Exploring the connections between students’ perfectionistic profiles, self-worth contingency, and achievement goal orientations. Personality and Individual Differences, 151, 109495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.07.005
Steffgen, S. T., Soenens, B., Otterpohl, N., Stiensmeier-Pelster, J., & Schwinger, M. (2022). Latent Profiles of Parental Academic Conditional Positive and Negative Regard. Parenting, 22(4), 347–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2021.2010501
Stevenson, H. W., & Lee, S.-Y. (1990). Contexts of achievement: A study of American, Chinese, and Japanese children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Stole, M. (2001). Morals from motives. Oxford University Press.
Stronge, S., Cichocka, A., & Sibley, C. G. (2016). Narcissistic self-esteem or optimal self-esteem? A Latent Profile Analysis of self-esteem and psychological entitlement. Journal of Research in Personality, 63, 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.06.016
Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72(2), 271–324.
Tesser, A. (1988). Toward a self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 21, pp. 181–227). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60227-0
Wang, K. T., Slaney, R. B., & Rice, K. G. (2007). Perfectionism in Chinese university students from Taiwan: A study of psychological well-being and achievement motivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1279–1290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.10.006
Wolfe, C., & Crocker, J. (2003). What does the self want? Contingencies of self-worth and goals. In S. J. Spencer, S. Fein, M. P. Zanna, & J. M. Olson (Eds.), Motivated social perception: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 9, pp. 147–170). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Drs. Karen Melton and Jo-Ann Tsang for their input and feedback on this article. And thank you to Dr. Merve Balkaya-Ince for her assistance in translation.
Funding
No funding was secured for conducting this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Elizabeth M. Bounds: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Project administration, Visualization, Formal analysis, Writing—Original Draft, Writing—Review & Editing; Juliette L. Ratchford: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Resources, Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision; Sarah Schnitker: Conceptualization, Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding Acquisition.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethical Approval
Research was conducted with ethics approval. De-identified data and materials are available at https://osf.io/frvpe/.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bounds, E.M., Ratchford, J.L. & Schnitker, S.A. Profile Membership of Self-Worth Contingencies Predicts Well-being, Virtues, and Values. J Happiness Stud 25, 42 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00758-3
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00758-3