2.3 Trait and State Self-Esteem

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People may constantly assess themselves based on their general feelings, their various abilities and attributes, and their successes and failures.

Such associations relate to the broad concept of self-esteem—an overall measure of how someone feels about and evaluates themselves, which can range from low to high.

For example, a college football player has consistently displayed high self-esteem. This type of overarching self-esteem is called trait self-esteem—an individual’s self-opinion over long periods, which typically remains stable.

This general evaluation may be partly due to how a person views themselves in relation to specific attributes, which is termed domain self-esteem. For example, the football player believes he’s athletically talented, as peers and coaches frequently praise his performance. Consequently, his self-opinion is contingent on this trait.

However, day-to-day incidents can cause temporary fluctuations in self-esteem. For instance, if the player throws an incomplete pass during a game and his team loses, the mood shifts, and he may now view himself as a useless failure and fear that he’ll be ostracized at his school—especially if he receives criticism from friends.

Since the quarterback’s assessment is dependent on valued qualities—here, perceived athleticism—his self-esteem decreases dramatically. In this context, the experience is described as an individual’s state self-esteem—a person’s self-evaluation in a particular moment, due to a specific situation.

Fortunately, state self-esteem can change often. Here, the athlete shifts back to seeing himself positively after he scores the winning touchdown at the next game and is congratulated by others.

Thus, while one part of someone’s self-esteem is relatively stable across time and situations, other parts can fluctuate to correspond with different domains and social circumstances.

The term self-esteem is often used generically, to refer to how people feel about themselves. However, according to research, there are three distinct constructs that should not be used interchangeably (Brown & Marshall, 2006).

Global Self-Esteem

When someone says they have high self-esteem, they are likely referring to their global or trait self-esteem—an individual’s self-opinion over long periods, which typically remains stable throughout adulthood. Research suggests that it probably has a genetic component related to temperament and neuroticism (Neiss, Sedikides, & Stevenson, 2002).

State Self-Esteem

If someone says their self-esteem was either threatened or boosted, they are most likely referring to their feelings of self-worth or state self-esteem—a person’s self-evaluation in a particular moment, due to a specific situation. For example, after a person is dumped by their girlfriend, they may feel horrible and say they have low self-esteem in this emotional state.

Domain Self-Esteem

When people evaluate themselves based on their abilities and attributes, they are referring to domain self-esteem—a general evaluation that's partly due to how a person views themselves in relation to specific attributes. For example, are you a good artist and horrible at organic chemistry? In that case, you would have high artistic self-esteem and low chemistry self-esteem. Thus, everyone can have different levels in different areas, whether it's in an academic subject or activity.

The Relationships Among Them

Now, while the three constructs are conceptually distinct, they are highly correlated. For instance, high self-esteem people evaluate themselves more positively and experience higher feelings of self-worth than do low self-esteem people (Brown, 1998).

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