title: The costly burden of an inauthentic self: insecure self-esteem predisposes to emotional exhaustion by increasing reactivity to negative events.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A long research tradition has investigated the impact of stress on university students by assuming that individuals have a limited reservoir of resources, and that negative events and circumstances progressively drain resources thereby producing exhaustion. A recent research tradition, instead, has focused on the detrimental consequences of discrepant levels of implicit (ISE) and explicit (ESE) self-esteem on the development of stress-related symptoms. The present research attempted to merge the aforementioned approaches, with the aim of explaining significant predictors of stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  Within the framework of a Longitudinal Structural Equation Model, we followed a moderated-mediated approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of university students (N = 209; 66% females) completed a questionnaire battery including measures of ISE, ESE, perceptions of negative events, and emotional exhaustion. Participants were assessed once a week for eight consecutive weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ISE significantly moderated the relationship between ESE and negative events; in turn, the latter significantly predicted emotional exhaustion. Monte Carlo method for assessing mediation showed that negative events significantly mediated the relationship between incongruent self-esteem and emotional exhaustion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The detrimental role of incongruent self-esteem has been corroborated. Practical implications and suggestions for future research dealing with stress in a university setting were provided.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alessandri
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perinelli
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Evelina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Longis
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.affiliation: b Department of Social and Developmental Psychology , Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Theodorou
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borgogni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004532:Ego; D004644:Emotions; D005221:Fatigue / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012384:Rome; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Self-esteem; emotional exhaustion; implicit self-esteem; incongruent self-esteem; negative events