OBJECTIVE The provision of information appears to be an important feature of self-esteem. The present studies examined whether self-esteem possesses a status-signaling property such that an individual's level of self-esteem is associated with how the individual is perceived by others. METHOD In Study 1, trained judges watched brief videos of 157 participants and rated targets as having higher...

Implicit and explicit self-esteem were compared in a group of female participants with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder (n=20) and a healthy control group (n=20). Lower explicit and a less positive implicit self-esteem bias in the clinical group was predicted. Participants completed a self-esteem implicit association test and two explicit self-esteem measures. The eating disordered grou...

Data from two large longitudinal studies were used to analyze reciprocal relations between self-esteem and depressive symptoms across the adult life span. Study 1 included 1,685 participants aged 18 to 96 years assessed 4 times over a 9-year period. Study 2 included 2,479 participants aged 18 to 88 years assessed 3 times over a 4-year period. In both studies, cross-lagged regression analyses in...

This study examined the effects of marital status, family income, and family functioning on African American adolescents' self-esteem. One hundred sixteen adolescents participated, 64% of whom were female. Compared with boys with nonmarried parents, boys with married parents had higher overall self-esteem, even when family income and family functioning were controlled. Parental marital status h...

Background: Although the association between major depressive disorder (MDD) and low self-esteem is well established, we do not know if race and ethnicity modify the magnitude of this link. Objectives: Using a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States, we explored whether or not race alters the association between MDD and self-esteem. Materials and Methods: Data came...

Membership in important social groups can promote a positive identity. We propose and test an identity resource model in which personal self-esteem is boosted by membership in additional important social groups. Belonging to multiple important group memberships predicts personal self-esteem in children (Study 1a), older adults (Study 1b), and former residents of a homeless shelter (Study 1c). S...

Prior literature examines the direct relationship between personality traits and body esteem. This article explores the possibility that self-esteem mediates this relationship. 165 undergraduate women and 133 men (age 18-21; 42.6% Hispanic, 28.9% Asian, 28.5% Caucasian) completed items measuring personality traits (Big Five), self-esteem, and body esteem. Path analyses were used to test for med...

The present study examined the self-esteem of African American women (N = 428) over a 14-year period using the National Survey of Black Americans: A Panel Study of Black American Life 1979-1992 (NSBA; Jackson & Gurin, 1996). Difference-of-means tests were used to examine self-esteem in four time periods (1979 to 1980, 1986 to 1987, 1988 to 1989, and 1992), and OLS regression was used to determi...

Depression, hopelessness, and low self-esteem are implicated as vulnerability factors for suicide ideation. The association of self-esteem with suicide ideation after controlling for depressed mood and hopelessness was examined. Adult psychiatric outpatients (N = 338) completed measures of self-esteem, suicide ideation, hopelessness, and depression. Self-esteem was operationalized as beliefs ab...