title: Men seek social standing, women seek companionship: sex differences in deriving self-worth from relationships.
abstract: Do men base their self-worth on relationships less than do women? In an assessment of lay beliefs, men and women alike indicated that men are less reliant on relationships as a source of self-worth than are women (Study 1). Yet relationships may make a different important contribution to the self-esteem of men. Men reported basing their self-esteem on their own relationship status (whether or not they were in a relationship) more than did women, and this link was statistically mediated by the perceived importance of relationships as a source of social standing (Studies 1 and 2). Finally, when relationship status was threatened, men displayed increased social-standing concerns, whereas women displayed increased interdependence concerns (Study 3). Together, these findings demonstrate that both men and women rely on relationships for self-worth, but that they derive self-esteem from relationships in different ways.
authors: 1LBJ School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. tkwang@austin.utexas.edu
authors: Tracy
authors: T
authors: Kwang
authors: Erin E
authors: EE
authors: Crockett
authors: Diana T
authors: DT
authors: Sanchez
authors: William B
authors: WB
authors: Swann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013240:Stereotyping; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: interpersonal relationships; self-esteem; sex differences