Gender differences in implicit self-esteem following a romantic partner's success or failure

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Relationship Science

Background:

• Social comparison theory posits individuals evaluate themselves by comparing to others.
• Self-esteem, particularly implicit self-esteem, can be influenced by social comparisons within close relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how a romantic partner's success or failure impacts an individual's implicit and explicit self-esteem.
• To identify potential gender differences in the self-esteem response to a partner's achievements.

Main Methods:

• Five experiments were conducted involving male and female participants.
• Participants' implicit and explicit self-esteem were measured in response to hypothetical or actual partner success/failure across different domains (social, academic).

Main Results:

• Men consistently showed lower implicit self-esteem following a romantic partner's success compared to their failure.
• Women's implicit self-esteem remained unaffected by their partner's performance.
• These effects were observed across various social and academic contexts and whether success was relative or not.

Conclusions:

• Men's implicit self-esteem is vulnerable to their romantic partner's success, indicating a potential negative social comparison effect.
• Women do not exhibit the same pattern, suggesting gender-specific dynamics in relationship-based self-esteem.
• Findings highlight the importance of gender in understanding social comparison processes within romantic partnerships.