Synonyms
Definition
Contingencies of self-worth are the domains in which people invest their self-esteem, so progress or success in these domains boosts state self-esteem, and failures or setbacks lead to drops in state self-esteem.
Introduction
The contingencies of self-worth (CSW) scale, developed by Jennifer Crocker and colleagues (see Crocker, Jennifer entry), assesses how much people invest in their self-esteem in various domains (Crocker et al. 2003b; Crocker and Wolfe 2001). Thus, the CSW scale measures a construct that is distinct from global self-esteem (i.e., judgments of overall self-worth; see Self-Esteem entry). The CSW scale is predicated on William James’ (1890) idea that people differ in what they believe they must be or do to have worth and value as a person. For example, for some people, self-esteem depends on being attractive, whereas others need to feel virtuous or loved by God to have high self-esteem. Positive events...
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References
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Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593–623.
Crocker, J., Sommers, S., & Luhtanen, R. (2002). Hopes dashed and dreams fulfilled: Contingencies of self-worth in the graduate school admissions process. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1275–1286.
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Li, S., Brown, A.A., Crocker, J. (2016). Contingencies of Self-Worth (CSW) Scale. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1221-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1221-1
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