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Neural manifestations of implicit self-esteem: an ERP study
Lili Wu1, Huajian Cai2, Ruolei Gu2
1Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Plos One
|July 10, 2014
Summary
Humans implicitly favor themselves, a bias confirmed by brain activity. Event-related potential (ERP) studies show positive implicit self-esteem affects neural responses to self-relevant stimuli around 270 ms.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Behavioral research indicates an inherent human tendency towards positive self-perception.
- Implicit self-esteem, a non-conscious positive self-regard, is a key aspect of psychological well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural underpinnings of positive implicit self-esteem.
- To examine the temporal dynamics of self-related processing using event-related potentials (ERPs).
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Go/Nogo association task (GNAT) with self/other and good/bad attribute words.
- Recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to analyze neural responses during the task.
Main Results:
- Behavioral data revealed faster responses to 'self' with 'good' attributes compared to 'self' with 'bad' attributes.
- ERP analysis showed an augmented N200 component for Nogo trials versus Go trials.
- A delay in the N200 onset difference between Nogo and Go trials was observed, linked to the implicit self-positivity bias.
Conclusions:
- Findings provide neural evidence for the automaticity and positivity bias of implicit self-esteem.
- Positive implicit self-esteem influences neural processing of self-relevant information around 270 ms post-stimulus.
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