Article High Self-Esteem Prospectively Predicts Better Work Conditions and Outcomes

We examined the reciprocal prospective relations between self-esteem and work conditions and outcomes, including justice at work, support at work, work stressors, job satisfaction, job success, and counterproductive work behavior. Data came from two independent longitudinal studies, including five assessments over an 8-month period (N 663, age 16–62 years) and three assess-ments over a 2-year period (N 600, age 22–51 years), respectively. Across both studies, high self-esteem prospectively pre-dicted better work conditions and outcomes, whereas nearly all of the reverse effects (i.e., work conditions and outcomes predicting self-esteem) were nonsignificant. The results held for both male and female participants. If future research supports the causality of the self-esteem effects, interventions aimed at improving self-esteem might be useful in increasing an individual’s well-being and success at work, which consequently might be beneficial for employers. Keywords self-esteem, work conditions and outcomes, longitudinal studies Does self-esteem lead to more satisfaction and success in work life? Or, alternatively, is self-esteemmerely an epiphenomenon or a consequence of positive work-related outcomes? At pres-ent, there is an ongoing debate about whether self-esteem— which is defined as ‘‘a person’s appraisal of his or her value’’ (Leary & Baumeister, 2000, p. 2)—has a significant impact on important life domains, including work (Baumeister, Camp