SHORT REPORT
People have access to implicit self-esteem unless they do not apply an ego defence
Submission date: 2016-11-29
Final revision date: 2017-07-23
Acceptance date: 2017-08-21
Online publication date: 2017-12-21
Publication date: 2018-04-18
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2018;6(2):154-163
KEYWORDS
implicit self-esteemawareness of implicit attitudeself-enhancementself-deceptiondefensive high self-esteem
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
Early definitions of implicit self-esteem (ISE) assumed its unconscious character. Although researchers have shown ways to achieve consistency between explicit and implicit self-esteem measures, no one has demonstrated that people may be aware of their ISE.
Participants and procedure:
In the experiment with 85 participants aged from 19 to 45 years a “lie detector” procedure was used to overcome the self-enhancement bias. The definition of ISE, given to participants, referred to the phenomenon, manifested in popular ISE measures.
Results:
In participants who were convinced that they were being assessed in the presence of a lie detector, a significant correlation between referred and actual ISE was shown. Individuals characterised by defensive high self-esteem in natural conditions were less accurate in ISE estimation than those with secure high self-esteem.
Conclusions:
The results, demonstrating people’s access to their implicit self-esteem, may have important implications for clinical, well-being, self-acceptance, or educational issues.
Early definitions of implicit self-esteem (ISE) assumed its unconscious character. Although researchers have shown ways to achieve consistency between explicit and implicit self-esteem measures, no one has demonstrated that people may be aware of their ISE.
Participants and procedure:
In the experiment with 85 participants aged from 19 to 45 years a “lie detector” procedure was used to overcome the self-enhancement bias. The definition of ISE, given to participants, referred to the phenomenon, manifested in popular ISE measures.
Results:
In participants who were convinced that they were being assessed in the presence of a lie detector, a significant correlation between referred and actual ISE was shown. Individuals characterised by defensive high self-esteem in natural conditions were less accurate in ISE estimation than those with secure high self-esteem.
Conclusions:
The results, demonstrating people’s access to their implicit self-esteem, may have important implications for clinical, well-being, self-acceptance, or educational issues.
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| eISSN: | 2353-561X |
| ISSN: | 2353-4192 |
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