Contingencies of self-worth: Progress and prospects

Over a century ago, William James (1890) proposed that the impact of success and failure on self-esteem depends on the domains in which self-esteem is invested. In this chapter, we review a relatively new programme of research that aims to (a) develop and validate a measure of this construct, (b) develop the implications of James's idea for psychological vulnerability and self-regulation, and (c) examine the consequences of investing self-esteem in particular domains for goal pursuit, and the costs and benefits of goal pursuit that is driven by contingencies of self-worth.