Fragile Self-Esteem

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Koszegi, Botond; Loewenstein, George; Murooka, Takeshi
• 署名单位: Central European University; Carnegie Mellon University; University of Osaka
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdab060
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 2026-2060
• 关键词: mood-congruent memory; financial incentives; achievement evidence; Cognitive biases; narcissism; MODEL; overconfidence; confidence; INFORMATION; DEPRESSION

摘要

We develop a model of fragile self-esteem-self-esteem that is vulnerable to objectively unjustified swings-and study its implications for choices that depend on, or are aimed at enhancing or protecting, one's self-view. In our framework, a person's self-esteem is determined by sampling his memories of ego-relevant outcomes in a fashion that in turn depends on how he feels about himself, potentially creating multiple fragile self-esteem personal equilibria. Self-esteem is especially likely to be fragile, as well as unrealistic in either the positive or the negative direction, if being successful is important to the agent. A person with a low self-view might exert less effort when success is more important. An individual with a high self-view, in contrast, might distort his choices to prevent a collapse in self-esteem, with the distortion being greater if his true ability is lower. We discuss the implications of our results for mental well-being, education, job search, workaholism, and aggression.