Accentuate the Positive-and the Negative: Rethinking the Use of Self-Esteem, Self-Deprecation, and Self-Confidence

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Abstract
This study argues that recent developments in self-verification and positive strivings theory, in combination with self-esteem theory, could enhance social scientists' knowledge and use of the negative and positive dimensions of global self-esteem: An overemphasis on global self-esteem has muted theoretical, empirical, and substantive nuances, especially a more precise understanding of the development and maintenance of negative self-evaluations. Using longitudinal Youth in Transition data, unidimensional and bidimensional self-esteem models show that global self-esteem may be employed as a bidimensional construct marked by a self-deprecation subscale and a self-confidence subscale. Investigating self-deprecation in its own right is particularly merited. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis also supports a bidimensional view and reveals the relative contribution of self-esteem to the latent self-deprecation and self-confidence constructs. The paper discusses analysis implications for understanding the differential impact of negative and positive self-evaluations on emotional and social well-being.

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