Correlation between self-esteem and stress response in Chinese college students: The mediating role of the need for social approval

• The association between self-esteem and stress response in Chinese students were explored.
• Participants’ self-esteem positively correlated with their heart rate changes during the TSST.
• The need for social approval mediated the association.
• Cultural differences may moderate the association.

Interpersonal theories of self-esteem assume that the importance that others place on oneself contributes to individual levels of self-esteem. Recent studies further suggest a possible link between self-esteem and the endocrine stress response, mediated through individual levels of locus of control, without taking levels of social approval into account. The present set of studies aimed to explore the correlation between self-esteem and stress response in Chinese students, and simultaneously take into account the possible mediating role of internal locus of control and need for social approval. In study one, twenty-eight college students’ heart rates and saliva samples were collected while they underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Their self-esteem scores were assessed using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Results showed a positive correlation between self-esteem and their endocrine stress responses to the TSST. In study two, forty-one college students’ heart rates were collected while they underwent the TSST. Their locus of control scores were assessed by the Internality, Powerful Others, and Chance Scale, and their social approval scores were assessed by the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between self-esteem and heart rate changes during the TSST, with a mediating role of the need for social approval in the association between self-esteem and heart rate stress responses. We speculate that cultural differences may moderate the association between self-esteem and stress response.