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Double dissociation between implicit and explicit personality self-concept: the case of shy behavior
Jens B Asendorpf1, Rainer Banse, Daniel Mücke
1Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. asen@rz.hu-berlin.de
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|August 2, 2002
Summary
Implicit Association Tests (IAT) offer a reliable way to measure personality traits like shyness, predicting spontaneous behavior better than traditional self-ratings.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Traditional self-ratings may not capture all aspects of personality.
- Implicit measures of self-concept can reveal hidden personality differences.
- Shyness is a personality trait influenced by both implicit and explicit factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the reliability of implicitly measured personality self-concepts.
- To determine if implicit measures predict spontaneous behavior better than explicit self-ratings.
- To explore the dissociation between implicit and explicit measures in predicting behavior.
Main Methods:
- 139 participants completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and explicit shyness self-ratings.
- Participants were observed in a laboratory setting designed to induce shyness.
- A second study validated the distinction between spontaneous and controlled behaviors.
Main Results:
- Implicit self-concept (IAT) moderately correlated with explicit self-ratings.
- The IAT uniquely predicted spontaneous shy behavior.
- Explicit self-ratings uniquely predicted controlled shy behavior (double dissociation).
Conclusions:
- Implicit personality measures provide unique predictive validity for spontaneous behavior.
- Explicit self-ratings are more predictive of controlled behavior.
- The distinction between implicit and explicit self-concept is crucial for understanding personality and behavior.