My research on contingencies of self-worth explores what it is that people believe they need to be or do to have value and worth as a person, and the consequences of those beliefs. I am particularly interested in how people pursue self-esteem by trying to prove or demonstrate that they have worth and value, and how this pursuit affects the satisfaction of the fundamental human needs for learning, relationships, autonomy, self-regulation, and mental and physical health. Although there are demonstrated benefits of pursuing self-esteem (especially emotional benefits), my own research focuses on the costs of this pursuit, because people are often oblivious to the costs of pursuing self-esteem by trying to prove their worth and value, especially the costs to other people.

Primary Interests:

Culture and Ethnicity
Gender Psychology
Health Psychology
Interpersonal Processes
Motivation, Goal Setting
Person Perception
Personality, Individual Differences
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Self and Identity
Social Cognition

Culture and Ethnicity
Gender Psychology
Health Psychology
Interpersonal Processes
Motivation, Goal Setting
Person Perception

Personality, Individual Differences
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Self and Identity
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Contingencies of Self-Esteem Laboratory [Map]

Journal Articles:

Breines, J. G., Crocker, J., & Garcia, J. A. (2008). Self-objectification and well-being in women's daily lives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 583-598.
Crocker, J., & Canevello, A. (2008). Creating and undermining social support in communal relationships: The role of compassionate and self-image goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 555-575.
Crocker, J., Karpinski, A., Quinn, D. M., & Chase, S. (2003). When grades determine self-worth: Consequences of contingent self-worth for male and female engineering and psychology majors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 507-516.
Crocker, J., & Luhtanen, R. K. (2003). Level of self-esteem and contingencies of self-worth: Unique effects on academic, social, and financial problems in college freshmen. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 701-712.
Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R. K., Cooper, M. L., & Bouvrette, S. (2003). Contingencies of self-worth in college students: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 894-908.
Crocker, J., & Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review, 96, 608-630. (Winner of 1988 Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize).
Crocker, J., & Nuer, N. (2004). Do people need self-esteem? Comment on Pyszczynski et al. (2004). Psychological Bulletin, 130, 469-472.
Crocker, J., Olivier, M.-A., & Nuer, N. (2009). Self-image goals and compassionate goals: Costs and benefits. Self and Identity, 8, 251-269.
Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 392-414.
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.
Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593-623.
Jambekar, S., & Quinn, D. M., & Crocker, J. (2001). Effects of weight and achievement primes on the self-esteem of college women, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25, 48-56.
Quinn, D. M., & Crocker, J. (1999). When ideology hurts: Effects of feeling fat and the Protestant ethic on the psychological well-being of women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 402-414.
Twenge, J., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race, ethnicity, and self-esteem: Meta-analyses comparing Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans, including a commentary on Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 371-408.

Other Publications:

Crocker, J., Major, B., & Steele, C. (1998). Social stigma. In Gilbert, D., Fiske, S. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 504-553). New York: McGraw Hill.

Jennifer Crocker
Department of Psychology
University of Michigan
530 Church Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043
United States

Phone: (734) 615-3626
Fax: (734) 615-3212
Email: jcrocker@umich.edu