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Tal Ben-Shachar
Organizational Behavior PhD

Dissertation Chair: Prof. E. Langer

Restoring Self-Esteem: The Constructs of Dependent and Independent Competence and Worth

To explain a series of contradictory results regarding the consequences of self-esteem, this dissertation explores the implications of dependent (DSE) and independent (ISE) self-esteem, the global dispositions to base feelings of competence and worth on external versus internal standards.

Study 1 introduced two scales to measure dependent competence, dependent worth, independent competence, and independent worth.

In Study 2, ISE, relative to DSE, associated with happiness, altruism, global trait self-esteem, and low depression and narcissism.

Study 3 demonstrated positive relationships between ISE and stability of state self-esteem and affect.

Study 4 was a field study demonstrating that state affect and state self-esteem fluctuated less for individuals with high ISE relative to individuals with high DSE.

The four studies resolve some of the conflicting results in the self-esteem literature, and call for the pendulum to shift from its current focus on dependent self-esteem toward the cultivation of independent competence and worth.

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