Associative and competitive indirect self-enhancement in close relationships moderated by trait self-esteem

Subjects wrote (free-format) descriptions of themselves and of their romantic partners. Self-esteem and publicness moderated these descriptions. In addition to a tendency of high self-esteem subjects to avoid self-derogatory statements more than low self-esteem subjects, qualitative differences in favourable self-presentation were observed. While high self-esteem subjects emphasized their abilities (self-promotion), low self-esteem subjects focused instead on their social qualities and described themselves as altruistic (exemplification). Both groups described their partners positively and used indirect self-enhancement. However, the specific strategies of self-enhancement differed between the groups, such that high self-esteem subjects emphasized their superior abilities compared to their partners while low self-esteem subjects enhanced their self-worth by associating with a partner whom they described more positively than themselves.