Global and contingent self-esteem as moderators in the relations between adolescent narcissism, callous-unemotional traits, and aggression

Research on the association between self-esteem and aggression yields mixed, even contradictory, conclusions. This study investigated the potential interactions of global (i.e., overall self-evaluation) and contingent (i.e., tendency for self-evaluation to change based on feedback) self-esteem with narcissism and callous-unemotional traits in relation to adolescent proactive and reactive aggression. Participants were 156 adolescents, ages 16-19, who were attending a residential program for youth who have dropped out of school. Global self-esteem (GSE) was positively correlated with peer-nominated aggression, whereas contingent self-esteem (CSE) was positively related to self-reported proactive and reactive aggression. In addition, individuals with relatively high narcissism or callous-unemotional traits reportedly engaged in more aggression if they also reported high CSE. The implications of the findings, including that adolescents with CSE may benefit from efforts aimed at providing alternatives to aggression following social feedback, are discussed.