Jennifer Crocker

Crocker pioneered contingencies of self-esteem, first contrasting public and private, personal and collective self-esteems, especially in stigma. Later work distinguishes self-image goals to control how others view the self, versus compassionate goals to respond to others' needs. These goals shape intrapersonal processes (cognition, emotions, beliefs, physiology) and interpersonal processes (support, responsiveness, relationship quality). Her laboratory experiments investigate how goals affect working memory, emotions, and relationship processes. Longitudinal studies investigate goals shaping what people experience and how they behave, which affects other people, who then affect the self. Survey studies examine how compassionate and self-image goals relate to other constructs.