Date of Award

6-2012

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Joshua Hart

Language

English

Keywords

self-esteem, feedback, self-worth, gender differences

Abstract

Various psychological research has examined self-esteem formation and the importance of positive feedback from others in determining one’s self-worth. Additionally, contingencies of self-worth, or aspects of the self in which people deem important to their self-concept, play an important role in self-esteem formation. The current study expands upon this research by examining how personality traits, specifically the self-monitoring personality characteristic, may moderate fluctuations in self-esteem after receiving positive personality or appearance-based feedback. Participants in the current study completed a self-monitoring questionnaire, and were assigned to one of the following conditions: positive personality-based feedback, positive appearance-based feedback, or no feedback. Self-esteem levels were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale after the feedback condition. Results revealed a significant interaction between feedback condition and self-monitoring for women, but not men. The findings of the current study have various implications across clinical and social settings, and shed light on potential gender differences in contingencies of self-worth and self-esteem formation, which should be further explored.

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