The role of self-esteem in affiliation

The role of self-esteem in a person's decision to initially affiliate with someone and subsequently maintain that affiliation was examined. A sample of 221 pairs of participants ("observers" and their "affiliates") were administered the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (M. Rosenberg, 1979), the Social Desirability Scale (D. Crowne & D. Marlowe, 1964), and a general interest questionnaire. The observers and most of their affiliates were undergraduate students enrolled at a southwestern U.S. university. Both at initial contact and during maintained affiliation, the observers with high self-esteem scores tended to affiliate with persons who scored significantly lower on self-esteem, and observers with low self-esteem scores tended to affiliate with persons who scored significantly higher on self-esteem. The authors concluded that a person's level of self-esteem may play an important role in his or her choices of affiliates.