What is defensive self esteem?

Defensive self-esteem is where you blockade yourself from negative influence for the sake of feeling good about yourself.

For example:

a) You keep yourself from buying treats at the grocery store to keep yourself thin because that makes you feel good about yourself. Although the treats may be harmless, and some beneficial, you refuse to consume them for the betterment of your state-of-being.

b) You avoid associating yourself with people who are doing bad in class to make you feel like you are in a higher tier of achievers, so you feel better about yourself. Even if the people doing bad in class Excell in more difficult subjects, you want to disassociate yourself to feel like you're on the right track with the rest of the class.