"I’m a good person! I’m not good enough!" : self-worth contingent on morality and approval across time.

People want to believe that they are worthy and valuable, and bottom-up approaches to self-esteem posit that people typically determine their worth by weighing their successes versus failures in domains of life that are especially important to them. Two domains, in particular, are relevant for emerging adult populations but are grossly understudied: the internal domain of virtue (i.e., self-esteem based on living up to personal moral standards) and the external domain of others’ approval (i.e., self-esteem based on validation and approval from others). This staple dissertation contains three papers that describes four prospective studies (N = 3,713), drawing from two separate datasets. Intensive measurement burst design across one week and longitudinal design spanning several years are used. First, a comprehensive introduction provides background on extant perspectives of self-esteem and the model of contingent self-worth, providing a rationale for the examination of these two domains and use of longitudinal methods. Next, findings suggest that the internal domain of virtue meets the criteria for longitudinal and demographic residual measurement invariance (Paper One), tends to increase in its importance throughout college (Paper One), is associated with greater momentary positive emotion and meaningfulness and grows in tandem with meaning in life (Paper Two), and also grows in tandem with intrinsically motivated religious engagement (Paper Three). In contrast, findings suggest that the external domain of other people’s approval predominantly meets the criteria for longitudinal and demographic measurement invariance (Paper One), remains stable for males but decreases for females (after starting higher in the first place) throughout college (Paper One), is associated with greater momentary negative emotion and less positive emotion and meaningfulness (Paper Two), grows in tandem with mental illness symptoms and inversely with meaning in life (Paper Two), and grows in tandem with extrinsically motivated religious engagement (Paper Three). Finally, a comprehensive discussion describes implications for the self-esteem literature, future research directions, and applications for practitioners.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Bounds, Elizabeth M. (Elizabeth Marie), 1995-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Schnitker, Sarah A.

• Contingent self-worth.
• Domains of contingent self-worth.
• Self-esteem.
• Measurement invariance.
• Longitudinal methods.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13917

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13917