The purpose of this research is to explore differences of attribution style and negative emotion according to different types of self-esteem. Types of self esteem are comprised of ‘stable high esteem’, ‘unstable high esteem’, and ‘low esteem’, divided by self-esteem and contingent self-esteem. A total of 391 university students participated. The outcome of this study is shown as follows. First, unstable high, low self-esteem style attributed to the cause of a stable, general factor in a negative situation. Second, unstable high, low self-esteem style experienced helplessness in a negative appraisal feedback situation. Finally, a stable, general attribution style influenced negative emotions in a negative appraisal feedback situation. Therefore, it was found that there was a difference in attribution style and negative emotions according to the level of contingent self-esteem. When experiencing negative events, it was confirmed that the unstable high self-esteem style exhibited similar attribution and negative emotional reactions to the low self-esteem style.