Professor of Psychology and Research Professor at the ISR Research Center for Group Dynamics
Ph.D. Harvard
Area: Social

Contact Information

Email: jcrocker@umich.edu
Psychology Office: 3004 East Hall
Psychology Phone: 734-763-1133

Alternate Office: ISR, 426 Thompson St.
Alternate Phone: 734-615-3627

Research and Teaching Interests

My research examines self-esteem, contingencies of self-worth (what people believe they need to be or do to have worth as a human being), and the costs of pursing self-esteem as a goal. Using laboratory experiments, daily report studies, surveys, and physiological measures (salivary cortisol), I explore the costs of pursuing self-esteem for relationships, learning, motivation, self-regulation, and mental health. The goal of our research is to provide a framework, grounded in psychological research and theory, to understand how people inadvertently create what they don’t want in their lives when they are driven by the ego or self-esteem concerns, and how shifting to a different framework focused on what they want to create, contribute, or learn can help people create what they want in their lives.

In my teaching, students explore these issues by reading and discussing relevant psychological research and doing experiential exercises to understand their own self system.

Representative Publications

Niiya, Y., Crocker, J., and Bartmess, E. (2004). From vulnerability to resilience: Learning orientations buffer contingent self-esteem from failure. Psychological Science, 15, 801-805.

Crocker, J., and Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 392-414.

Crocker, J., Karpinski, A., Quinn, D. M., and Chase, S. (2003). When grades determine self-worth: Consequences of contingent self-worth for male and female engineering and psychology majors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 507-516.

Crocker, J., Sommers, S., and Luhtanen, R. (2002). Hopes dashed and dreams fulfilled: Contingencies of self-worth in the graduate school admissions process. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1275-1286.

Crocker, J., and Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593-623.

Recent Awards

2000-01 President, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Division 9 of APA)
2000-05 Independent Scientist Award, National Institute of Mental Health

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