Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis.
Leary, Tambor, Terdal and Downs report five studies testing the sociometer model, in which self-esteem monitors others' reactions and alerts the person to possible exclusion. State self-esteem tracked whether an event was expected to bring acceptance or rejection, felt inclusion in a real situation closely followed self-esteem, exclusion lowered self-esteem only when it rested on personal reasons and not when it was random, and trait self-esteem was strongly related to how included people generally felt. Reading depth: abstract only; the only number used is five studies.
Leary, Tambor, Terdal and Downs report five studies testing the sociometer model, in which self-esteem monitors others' reactions and alerts the person to possible exclusion. State self-esteem tracked whether an event was expected to bring acceptance or rejection, felt inclusion in a real situation closely followed self-esteem, exclusion lowered self-esteem only when it rested on personal reasons and not when it was random, and trait self-esteem was strongly related to how included people generally felt. Reading depth: abstract only; the only number used is five studies.
Written from the abstract summary (Duke faculty publication record), 2026-10-31.
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Leary, M. R., Tambor, E. S., Terdal, S. K., & Downs, D. L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 518-530. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.68.3.518 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.3.518