Propensity to take the agent perspective moderates the relative importance of agency versus communion in self-esteem (but only slightly)

The current research focused on individual difference - propensity to take the agent perspective, in order to test if it moderates the well-established relationship between agency and self-esteem. We present three correlational studies examining if propensity to take the agent perspective is related to valuing agentic traits (Preliminary Study, N = 119, mean age = 22.18, 78% female) and if self-ascribed agentic traits are more related to self-esteem among those who highly identify with being agents in the social world compared to those with a lower level of this propensity (meta-analysis of Study 1 and 2, N = 290, mean age = 27.76, 79% female). The meta-analysis of the results supported the moderating effect of propensity to take the agent perspective on the relations between self-ascribed agentic traits and self-esteem. The present studies add an individual differences perspective to the discussion on culture as a moderator of agency based self-esteem. However, considering the small effect size, our research also indicates how universal (not only on cross-cultural but also on the individual level) the association between agency and self-esteem is.