The Relation of Self‐Esteem Variability to Emotion Variability, Mood, Personality Traits, and Depressive Tendencies

Abstract

The relation of self-esteem variability to personality, mood, and behavior was investigated. Self-esteem variability was measured by calculating the standard deviation of self-ratings made during a week of experience-sampling. Participants high in self-esteem variability were self-conscious, socially anxious, and avoidant of social contexts. Self-esteem variability was partially independent of the conceptually similar trait of affect-intensity. The contributions of the study to work on self-esteem stability are discussed.