Psychological Centrality of Physical Attributes: A Reexamination of the Relationship between Subjective Importance and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Psychologically central aspects of the self are those which, because of their importance, affect self-esteem to a greater extent than do less important aspects. A sample of 260 college students was used to examine the applicability of psychological centrality to physical attributes. Self-esteem was assessed with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, while two additional Likert-format scales measured importance of and satisfaction with 24 physical attributes. Attribute-by-attribute comparisons of self-esteem scores revealed that level of self-esteem, though positively related to level of satisfaction with a physical attribute, was generally not related to subjective importance of the attribute. These data support previous findings in this area and call into question the utility of the principle of psychological centrality in respect to physical attributes.