The assumption was verified that for patients suffering from cancer levels of anxiety and self-esteem differ compared to other patients before surgery. 120 patients of urology were assigned to subgroups according to diagnosis (cancer vs. non-cancer) and the duration of hospitalization (5 days vs. 1 day). Patients suffering from cancer declared higher anxiety than other patients. Longer hospitalization was connected to higher anxiety. A threat-congruent difference in explicit self-esteem was revealed only between two groups: 1. cancer and long hospitalization and 2. non-cancer and short hospitalization. For implicit self-esteem the phenomenon of implicit compensation of self-esteem was predicted and confirmed: among cancer-sufferers the Name Letter Effect was greater than among other patients. Also, in the cancerpatients group, the result of Rudman et al. (2007) was replicated: increasing anxiety was connected with increasing implicit self-esteem.

No abstract

Drawing on the model of Grandey (2000)

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.