We examined how individual differences in stability and level of self-esteem relate to self-perceptions of reactions to evaluative events. After exposure to either positive or negative mood-inducing stimuli, participants indicated the likelihood that they would react in reasonable, defensive/aggrandizing, and self-deprecating ways to doing well or poorly at something. Compared to stable high self-esteem individuals (stable high SEs), unstable high SEs reported a greater likelihood of reactions that appear to reflect fragile feelings of self-worth (e.g. more defensive/aggrandizing reactions). Fewer differences as a function of stability of self-esteem emerged among low SEs. Mood interacted with the self-esteem variables in the prediction of several reaction categories. These findings lend support for a multifaceted conceptualization of self-esteem and its role in psychological functioning.
This research examines the moderating roles of self-esteem level and self-esteem instability in the relationship between perceived unfair treatment and depressive mood. Based on the assumption that unfairness is a threat to one's social standing and self-esteem, the authors proposed that individuals with highly fragile self-esteem (i.e., the combination of unstable and high self-esteem) react more strongly when experiencing unfair treatment. This hypothesis was tested in a real-world setting using cross-sectional and diary data of 101 employees. As expected, unfair treatment was related to depressive mood among individuals with unstable high self-esteem but not among individuals with stable high self-esteem. This pattern of results held for both cross-sectional and diary data. In contrast, unfairness was not related to depressive mood among individuals with unstable low self-esteem.
ABSTRACT Computer crime—specifically, software piracy—is growing, and no research in criminology examines whether low self-control can help us understand the behavior. This study examines the link that Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) idea of low self-control has with software piracy. Using a nonrandom sample of college students and measures of low self-control, software pirating peers, software pirating attitudes, and moral beliefs toward software piracy, the findings show that low self-control has a link with software piracy. This finding expands the scope of self-control theory and provides an understanding of why the behavior occurs.