This scale, made up of 65 items, evaluates these contingencies of self-worth and places them in two major categories.
Contingencies that were considered externally validated included domains such as appearance, competition, and the approval of others.
Contingencies that were considered internally validated were family support, virtue, and religious faith.
[7] Furthermore, Crocker has studied the effects of contingent self-worth on psychological vulnerability and negative behavior.
Crocker acknowledges the benefits of pursuing self-esteem, but her research focuses mainly on the costs because she believes people are often oblivious to the negative effects.
This research addresses depressive symptoms and alcohol use in college students and the correlation (if any) between the negative behavior and one's self-esteem.
[12] Intergroup relationships are challenging because of the different social identities, but having ecosystem goals can greatly improve these relations.
[13] Her current research seeks to examine how interpersonal goals shape physiological processes and how they affect other people.
In recognizing the importance of self-image, Crocker has dedicated a great majority of her research to this idea as it relates to interpersonal goals, which are goals meant to attain, maintain, or avoid a specific end state for the partner or the relationship, such as to help the partner, maintain closeness, or avoid rejection.
Job interviews, college applications, and the initial stages of a relationship require people to convey an accurate yet glorified conception of self because they want to be seen as having desirable qualities when engaging with others.
[16] People with self-image goals are only concerned with others because they withhold the ability to give approval, inclusion, and validation.
Her research emphasizes the cost of self-image goals because they lead people to feel competitive, fearful, confused, depressed, and anxious.