"Who am I? Why am I here?" Self-esteem, self-clarity, and prototype matching.

Recent research has demonstrated that individuals with low self-esteem lack self-clarity; they have less certain and less stable self-concepts than do those with high self-esteem (A. H. Baumgardner, 1990; J. Campbell, 1990). Self-concept confusion should mitigate against the use of a decision-making strategy that involves using the self to guide choice behavior (i.e., prototype matching, P. M. Niedenthal, N. Cantor, & J. F. Kihlstrom, 1985). Two correlational studies demonstrated that people with high self-esteem, but not low self-esteem, made use of prototype matching in forming preferences. In a 3rd study, the self-concept was made more clear or made more confused. Clarity was associated with the use of prototype matching regardless of level of self-esteem. Self-concept confusion was associated with a failure to use the strategy regardless of level of self-esteem.