What's in a name: Implicit self-esteem and the automatic self.

Abstract

This article explores the links between implicit self-esteem and the automatic self (D. L. Paulhus, 1993). Across 4 studies, name letter evaluations were positively biased, confirming that implicit self-esteem is generally positive (A. G. Greenwald & M. R. Banaji, 1995). Study 1 found that this name letter bias was stable over a 4-week period. Study 2 found that positive bias for name letters and positive bias for birth date numbers were correlated and that both biases became inhibited when participants were induced to respond in a deliberative manner. Studies 3-4 found that implicit self-evaluations corresponded with self-reported self-evaluations, but only when participants were evaluating themselves very quickly (Study 3) or under cognitive load (Study 4). Together, these findings support the notion that implicit self-esteem phenomena are driven by self-evaluations that are activated automatically and without conscious self-reflection.

Grasping the concept of personal property

“…That is, our tendency to have a positive bias towards ourselves (e.g. Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2001) also extends to our property (Gawronski, Bodenhausen, & Becker, 2007). Further, the self-relevance of our property may give rise to stronger memory representations of our possessions relative to unowned objects (Cunningham, Turk, Macdonald, & Macrae, 2008;van den Bos, Cunningham, Conway, & Turk, 2010).…”

Reflection and Impulse as Determinants of Human Behavior

“…Implicit self-esteem is a much researched construct of recent years (e.g., Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2001 ;Yamaguchi et al, 2007 ). In a general sense, implicit self-esteem is defi ned as an automatic evaluation of the self that occurs nonconsciously and affects spontaneous reactions to self-relevant stimuli (Bosson, et al 2000 ).…”

Secure and Defensive High Self-Esteem.

“…Smith & DeCoster, 2001; for a more elaborate discussion, see Jordan, Spencer, & Zanna, 2002). Indeed, with regard to SE, it has been shown that individuals whose cognitive capacity has been taxed by busyness or time pressure constraints report explicit self-views that correspond more closely to their levels of implicit SE than do individuals who report their self-views in the absence of such constraints (Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2001). …”