Psychology · Self-evaluation

Self-Esteem

Reference entry · last updated October 8, 2026

Self-esteem is a person's subjective evaluation of their worth as a person. Because it is subjective, it does not necessarily reflect a person's objective characteristics or competence.[1]

First principles and definitions

Self-esteem is an evaluation. For example, a person can rate one skill accurately and still judge their overall worth as low. Researchers distinguish global self-esteem, which concerns the whole person, from domain-specific self-esteem, such as academic self-esteem.[1]

Self-esteem differs from narcissism, although both involve positive self-evaluations.[1] Baumeister and colleagues describe high self-esteem as a mixed category. It includes people who accept their good qualities frankly, and also narcissistic, defensive, and conceited people.[2]

In everyday English, ego means a person's opinion of themselves, especially their feeling of their own importance and ability.[7] This sense is close to self-esteem.

Measurement

Self-esteem is usually measured by self-report. The most frequently used measure is the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965). Its items include “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.”[1]

The scale has 10 items, answered on a four-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Rosenberg developed it with 5,024 high school juniors and seniors from 10 randomly selected schools in New York State. Reported test-retest correlations are typically .82 to .88.[3]

Implicit measures of self-esteem exist, but Orth and Robins describe their validity as limited.[1]

Effects on life outcomes

Whether high self-esteem causes good outcomes has been debated for decades.

Baumeister and colleagues (2003)

This review emphasized objective outcome measures, because many people with high self-esteem exaggerate their successes. It found modest correlations between self-esteem and school performance. It concluded that high self-esteem is partly a result of good school performance, not its cause.[2]

The review found two kinds of benefit: enhanced initiative and pleasant feelings. Laboratory studies generally failed to find that self-esteem causes good task performance, with one exception: high self-esteem helped people persist after failure. The authors found no evidence that programs to raise self-esteem caused benefits.[2]

Orth and Robins (2022)

This review covered relationships, school, work, mental health, physical health, and antisocial behavior. It found small benefits in each domain, averaging .10 across domains. The effects held after controlling for prior levels of the outcome.[1]

The authors compare this effect size with self-efficacy, attachment security, and growth mindset. They judge the evidence consistent with a causal effect. They also state that further evidence, such as intervention studies, is needed to document it conclusively.[1]

Later studies test single outcomes. A 2026 longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin families found no systematic effect of self-esteem on aggression in either direction.[5]

Development across the life span

A 2018 meta-analysis combined 331 longitudinal samples with 164,868 participants aged 4 to 94.[4] On average, self-esteem:

The pattern held across gender, country, ethnicity, sample type, and birth cohort.[4]

The pursuit of self-esteem

Crocker and Park argue that how people pursue self-esteem matters more than its level. When self-worth is invested in a domain, people try to prove their abilities there. They then react to threats in that domain in ways that undermine learning, relationships, and self-regulation.[6] In their account, the short-term emotional gains of this pursuit are often outweighed by long-term costs.[6]

In Psycho-Cybernetics

Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, wrote the self-help book Psycho-Cybernetics (1960). He grounds self-esteem in appreciating human worth, not possessions, accomplishments, or status. He argues that the same worth applies to other people, and that treating them with respect raises one's own esteem.[8]

Maltz also separates a skill difference from a judgment of personal worth. He argues that trying to become superior keeps the premise that one is inferior.[8]

The book supports these arguments with case stories and reasoning. They are not tested research findings.

See also

References

  1. Ulrich Orth and Richard W. Robins, “Is High Self-Esteem Beneficial? Revisiting a Classic Question,” American Psychologist 77(1), 5–17 (2022). DOI: 10.1037/amp0000922. Free author manuscript at PubMed Central.
  2. R. F. Baumeister, J. D. Campbell, J. I. Krueger, and K. D. Vohs, “Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles?” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 4(1), 1–44 (2003). DOI: 10.1111/1529-1006.01431. PubMed record and abstract.
  3. Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, “Using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.” Original scale: Morris Rosenberg, Society and the Adolescent Self-Image, Princeton University Press (1965).
  4. U. Orth, R. Y. Erol, and E. C. Luciano, “Development of Self-Esteem From Age 4 to 94 Years: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies,” Psychological Bulletin 144(10), 1045–1080 (2018). DOI: 10.1037/bul0000161. PubMed record and abstract.
  5. U. Orth, J. A. Aebi, and R. W. Robins, “No Evidence for Self-Esteem Effects on Aggression: Findings From a Multi-Year, Multi-Informant Longitudinal Study of Mexican-Origin Families,” Psychological Science 37(8), 540–556 (2026). DOI: 10.1177/09567976261459011. PubMed record and abstract.
  6. J. Crocker and L. E. Park, “The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem,” Psychological Bulletin 130(3), 392–414 (2004). DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.392. PubMed record and abstract.
  7. Cambridge Dictionary, “ego.” Cambridge University Press.
  8. Maxwell Maltz, Psycho-Cybernetics, updated and expanded edition, TarcherPerigee (2015), chapters 4 and 8. First published 1960. Publisher's page.