14 checked facts

Self-esteem

Everything on this site about self-esteem — each one naming the study behind it.

You feel worse when your friend succeeds.
Self-evaluation maintenance theory explains why your self-esteem drops when a close friend performs exceptionally well…
You take credit for your wins and blame bad luck elsewhere.
The self-serving bias is the tendency to perceive oneself as responsible for successes and external factors as respons…
You define your worth by measuring it against others.
A 1954 study proposed that in the absence of objective standards, humans evaluate their abilities through social compa…
You sabotage your performance to protect your ego.
Self-handicapping is the tendency to create obstacles to your own success so you have a ready-made excuse for failure.…
You blame your failures on the world around you.
The self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external ones.…
You derive your self-worth by comparing yourself to peers.
Social comparison theory posits that you evaluate your own abilities and opinions by comparing them to others.…
You blame circumstances for failure but yourself for success.
The self-serving bias is observed as a pattern of attribution, but its status as a defense mechanism for self-esteem i…
You create obstacles to explain your potential failure.
Self-handicapping is the act of putting barriers in your own way to protect your self-esteem.…
You believe you possess more talent than the average.
The better-than-average effect is a widespread cognitive bias where individuals rate their abilities as superior to th…
You create obstacles to explain away your future failures.
Self-handicapping occurs when you intentionally place hurdles in your own path to protect your ego.…
You feel more successful when your group achieves a win.
Basking in reflected glory is the psychological attempt to maintain self-esteem by aligning yourself with successful o…
You create your own excuses before you even start.
Self-handicapping is the strategy of creating obstacles to performance to protect your self-esteem if you happen to fa…
Your sense of self-worth is tethered to others' success.
Individuals prefer to evaluate their abilities using objective standards when available, turning to social comparison …
You create obstacles to explain your potential failure.
A 1978 experiment showed that people who are uncertain about their performance will intentionally choose to hinder the…