Abstract
Objective
The present study tested a hypothesized mediation model in which the seven contingencies of self‐worth proposed by Crocker and Wolfe mediate the association between global self‐esteem and eating disturbances in college women.
Method
This study utilized a sample of 408 college women. Path analysis was used to produce a model in which the association between global self‐esteem and eating disturbances was accounted for through contingencies of self‐worth.
Results
The finalized model indicated that self‐worth based on appearance and competition mediated the link between global self‐esteem and both drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms. Self‐worth based on virtue mediated the link between global self‐esteem and bulimic symptoms.
Conclusion
The present findings clarify facets of self‐worth accounting for the association between global self‐esteem and eating disturbances in college women, and point to how self‐worth based on one’s appearance, or the ability to outdo others, is centrally implicated in this relationship.