Sixty women who had experienced physical violence during the preceding year and 60 women who had not experienced physical violence in the past 12 months completed scales measuring physical violence, psychological maltreatment, self-affirmation and self-esteem. Both psychological maltreatment and self-affirmation significantly predicted the self-esteem of the currently battered women, but were not predictive of self-esteem for the comparison women. This study provides initial support for the hypothesis that self-affirmation may be activated in the context of partner violence and may serve to buffer battered women’s self-esteem. Further research is needed to understand how and if self-affirmation serves a protective function for battered women’s self-esteem, and to investigate the relationship between women’s self-esteem and batterers’ use of control tactics and power. Tables, appendix, note, references