Effects of trait self-esteem and self-evaluation threat on the appraisal of close friends

Abstract

People with low self-esteem, when experiencing a threat to self-evaluation, reportedly tend to place higher value in a romantic partner as an indirect form of self-enhancement. This study examined whether such an indirect form of self-enhancement is also found when considering a close friend. Participants’ trait self-esteem was measured. Then, they participated in an experiment in which they experienced (or not) a threat to their self-evaluation. They were subsequently asked to evaluate their close friends and acquaintances using trait adjectives. The results showed that participants with low self-esteem valued their close friends and acquaintances highly when they experienced a threat, compared with those who did not experience one. Meanwhile, participants with high self-esteem devalued their close friends but not their acquaintances when they experienced a threat, compared with those who did not. These results suggest that people with high self-esteem devalue their close friends as an indirect form of self-enhancement. We discuss the need to examine the effects of the difference in relationship quality between a close friend and a romantic partner, as well as the cross-cultural differences in indirect forms of self-enhancement.