ORIGINAL PAPER The Connections Between Self-Esteem and Psychopathology Virgil Zeigler-Hill Published online: 30 November 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract Diagnostic criteria and empirical research sug- gests an intimate connection between low self-esteem and psychopathology. The purpose of the present work is to provide a review of the literature that focuses on the inter- connections between self-esteem and psychopathology. The most prominent explanations for this link are explored including the vulnerability model (low self-esteem increases the probability of psychopathology) and the scar model (low self-esteem is a consequence of psychopathology rather than a cause). Recent advancements in the self-esteem literature concerning distinctions between secure and fragile forms of self-esteem are discussed in terms of their potential impli- cations for psychopathology. Finally, the role of self-esteem in psychotherapeutic interventions is reviewed. Keywords Self-esteem Á Psychopathology Á Fragile Á Vulnerable Á Scar Self-esteem is one of the most widely studied topics in modern psychology with more than 25,000 publications concerning this construct during the last 30 years. This wide and diverse literature has examined the potential causes, consequences, and correlates of self-esteem and suggests that high levels of self-esteem are associated with an array of outcomes including productivity (e.g., academic achieve- ment, occupational success) and psychological adjustment (e.g., subjective well-being, persistence in the face of adversity; see Baumeister et al. 2003, for a review). In addition to scholarly interest, self-esteem is a popular topic in the mainstream media. For example, the term ‘‘self- esteem’’ is emblazoned across a wide array of book covers in the self-help sections of many bookstores. This considerable interest in self-esteem began to emerge during the 1970s as research found connections between self-esteem and important life outcomes such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and unemployment. By the 1980s, the self- esteem movement was well under way with California funding a Task Force on Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility with the goal of raising the self-esteem of its citizens in the hopes that this would reduce some of the social problems that were plaguing the state (Baumeister et al. 2003). A natural consequence of this pervasive interest in self-esteem is to question whether this amount of atten- tion is warranted since it is clear that self-esteem is not the panacea that some once hoped it to be. The purpose of the present work is to address this issue by providing a brief overview of what is currently known about the connection between self-esteem and psychopathology. What Is Self-Esteem? Self-esteem is the evaluative aspect of self-knowledge that concerns the extent to which people like themselves (Brown and Marshall 2006). Self-esteem is considered to be a relatively enduring characteristic that possesses both motivational and cognitive components (Kernis 2003). Individuals tend to desire high self-esteem and will engage in a variety of strategies to maintain or enhance their feelings of self-worth (Crocker and Park 2004). Self- esteem level tends to influence the strategies that individ- uals adopt to regulate their self-esteem such that those with high self-esteem are more likely to focus their efforts on V. Zeigler-Hill (&) University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive #5025, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, USA e-mail: virgil@usm.edu 123 J Contemp Psychother (2011) 41:157–164 DOI 10.1007/s10879-010-9167-8