Romin W. Tafarodi

Two-dimensional self-esteem: theory and measurement

Abstract In this paper, we offer a clarified account of global self-esteem as consisting of self-competence and self-liking and describe a revised instrument designed to measure the two correlated dimensions. In Study 1, four measurement models representing distinct conceptions of self-esteem are compared to confirm the a priori structure of the instrument. In Study 2, multiple reporters (self, mother, father) are used to provide evidence for convergent and discriminant validity in a multitrait–multimethod context. Advantages of the two-dimensional approach to measurement are discussed.

Decomposing Global Self-Esteem

We argue in this paper for distinguishing two dimensions of global self-esteem, self-competence and self-liking. Studies 1 and 2 identify a corresponding pair of factors in Rosenbergs (1965) Self-Esteem Scale. Studies 3 and 4 examine the predictive value of the two-dimensional approach to self-esteem as reflected in the unique associations of self-competence and self-liking with negative life events and word recognition.

Individualism-Collectivism and Global Self-Esteem Evidence for a Cultural Trade-Off

How does the cultural construct of individualism-collectivism relate to global self-esteem? It is proposed that highly collectivist cultures promote the development of one dimension of global self-esteem (generalized self-liking) but challenge the development of the other (generalized self-competence), whereas highly individualist cultures are characterized by the inverse asymmetry. This cultural trade-off hypothesis was investigated by comparing a sample of 302 Chinese with a sample of 343 American college students. The cross-cultural equivalence of the two-dimensional model of self-esteem was first assessed and found to be adequate. Given the high intercorrelation of the 2 self-esteem dimensions, only the unique or non-common part of each dimension was used in hypothesis testing. As predicted, the Chinese were lower in self-competence but higher in self-liking than the Americans. Caveats and implications are discussed.

The Confidence of Choice: Evidence for an Augmentation Effect on Self-Perceived Performance

Past research suggests that choice in deciding the features of a task can enhance performance. Independent of the quality of performance, choice may also increase the actor’s confidence by providing a secondary source of subjective control during the task. In two studies designed to examine this augmentation hypothesis, college students were asked to read and understand a short story. Study 1 revealed that those who selected names to be used in the story felt more confident about their performance than did those who were assigned names, although the groups in fact performed equally. Study 2 revealed that the enhancement was not due to anticipatory confidence, arguing against the possibility that choice was operating as a performance cue. The findings are interpreted in relation to perceived control and implications for motivation and competence are discussed.

Self-Esteem and Memory

This article describes two potential bases for memory bias associated with global self-esteem. According to the mood-congruence model, activation of either dimension of self-esteem (self-competence or self-liking) produces an affective state that facilitates retrieval of traces that are consistent with that state while hindering retrieval of traces that are inconsistent. According to the relevance model, activation of either dimension results in superior encoding of matching negative content by individuals who are low on the dimension. Three studies were conducted to determine which model best accounts for the pattern of bias across distinct content categories. Results were generally consistent with the relevance model.

Individualism-collectivism and depressive sensitivity to life events: the case of Malaysian sojourners

Abstract In addressing the mental health of international students, individualism-collectivism is treated as a dimension of cultural distance that produces differential sensitivity to life events. A collectivist cultural orientation is hypothesized to promote depressive dysphoria in response to negative social events and to increase the inhibitory effect of positive social events. An individualist cultural orientation is hypothesized to promote depressive dysphoria in response to negative achievement-related events and to increase the inhibitory effect of positive achievement-related events. A prospective study comparing Malaysian and British students at the same university confirmed the predicted cultural differences in sensitivity to social events. Predicted differences for achievement-related events were partially confirmed. Malaysian students were also considerably more dysphoric than their British counterparts, as expected.

Self-Esteem and the Cultural Trade-Off Evidence for the Role of Individualism-Collectivism

According to the cultural trade-off hypothesis, individualism and collectivism entail inverse costs and benefits for the two dimensions of global self-esteem. Specifically, individualism is described as promoting the development of self-competence but inhibiting the development of self-liking. Collectivism is described as doing the opposite. To examine the hypothesis, Malaysian (collectivist) and British (individualist) students were compared on their self-liking and self-competence. Consistent with predictions, Malaysians were significantly lower in self-competence when self-liking was held constant but were higher in self-liking when self-competence was held constant. The differences, however, were not reliable after statistically equating the cultural groups on two derived dimensions of individualism-collectivism—deference to the direction of relatives and connectedness to parents—suggesting that these dimensions might account for the trade-off in self-esteem.

Individualism-collectivism, life events, and self-esteem : a test of two trade-offs

The theoretical implications of individualism–collectivism for self-esteem suggest that collectivism is associated with (1) relatively higher self-liking and lower self-competence and (2) greater change in self-liking in response to social life events. In contrast, individualism is expected to be associated with (1) relatively higher self-competence and lower self-liking and (2) greater change in self-competence in response to achievement-related life events. A 6-month prospective study comparing students in (collectivist) Spain and (individualist) Britain confirmed the expected differences in relative (adjusted) levels of self-liking and self-competence. The predicted differential sensitivity to social events was also confirmed. No evidence for differential sensitivity to achievement-related events, however, was found. Copyright

Paradoxical self-esteem and selectivity in the processing of social information.

Paradoxical self-esteem is defined as contrasting levels of self-liking and self-competence. Consideration of the social and motivational implications of this uncommon form of self-esteem suggests that heightened selectivity in the processing of social information may be behind its persistence. Two experiments were conducted to confirm the prediction of heightened selectivity in paradoxicals. As expected, those paradoxically low in self-liking were more negatively biased in their memory for personality feedback (Study 1) and interpretation of valuatively ambiguous phrases (Study 2) than were their counterparts who shared the same low self-liking but were also low in self-competence. Symmetrical with this result, those paradoxically high in self-liking exhibited a heightened positive bias relative to those who were high in both self-liking and self-competence. The findings are discussed in relation to attitudes and motivation.

Two-Dimensional Self-Esteem and Reactions to Success and Failure

Past research has shown that those low in self-esteem tend to persist less after initial failure than do those high in self-esteem. It is not clear, however, whether this motivational vulnerability is attributable to low self-competence, low self-liking, or both. To address this question, the persistence and performance of students with distinct self-esteem composites were examined using an anagram task. The persistence results revealed that low self-liking was independently associated with decreased effort following performance failure, suggesting that it is this dimension of low self-esteem that is of primary importance in accounting for the previously demonstrated phenomenon. Differences in performance, although less pronounced, corresponded roughly with differences in persistence.