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Reporting tendencies underlie discrepancies between implicit and explicit measures of self-esteem
Michael A Olson1, Russell H Fazio, Anthony D Hermann
1Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. olson@utk.edu
Psychological Science
|May 2, 2007
Summary
Implicit self-esteem measures may not reflect unconscious associations. Discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-esteem stem from self-presentation biases, not inaccessibility to consciousness.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Current social cognition research often assumes implicit measures capture unconscious associations.
- Implicit self-esteem is frequently argued to be unconscious.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the assumption that implicit measures assess unconscious associations.
- To investigate the construct of implicit self-esteem as a case study.
- To explore the role of reporting tendencies in discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-esteem.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between implicit and explicit self-esteem measures.
- Study 1 assessed self-presentation tendencies in individuals with differing implicit and explicit self-esteem scores.
- Study 2 manipulated instructions regarding self-presentation to observe effects on the correlation between implicit and explicit self-esteem.
Main Results:
- Evidence suggests that implicitly measured self-esteem is not entirely unconscious.
- Discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-esteem measures are linked to reporting tendencies.
- Individuals with high explicit and low implicit self-esteem admitted to overpresenting themselves in Study 1.
- The relationship between implicit and explicit self-esteem measures strengthened when participants were instructed to avoid self-presentation biases in Study 2.
Conclusions:
- The assumption that implicit measures reflect unconscious associations requires re-evaluation.
- Reporting tendencies, rather than inaccessibility to consciousness, may explain differences between implicit and explicit self-esteem.
- A critical distinction exists between awareness of one's attitudes and awareness of their influence on reporting.
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