SHORT REPORT
People have access to implicit self-esteem unless they do not apply an ego defence
 
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Submission date: 2016-11-29
 
 
Final revision date: 2017-07-23
 
 
Acceptance date: 2017-08-21
 
 
Online publication date: 2017-12-21
 
 
Publication date: 2018-04-18
 
 
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2018;6(2):154-163
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
Early definitions of implicit self-esteem (ISE) assumed its unconscious character. Although researchers have shown ways to achieve consistency between explicit and implicit self-esteem measures, no one has demonstrated that people may be aware of their ISE.

Participants and procedure:
In the experiment with 85 participants aged from 19 to 45 years a “lie detector” procedure was used to overcome the self-enhancement bias. The definition of ISE, given to participants, referred to the phenomenon, manifested in popular ISE measures.

Results:
In participants who were convinced that they were being assessed in the presence of a lie detector, a significant correlation between referred and actual ISE was shown. Individuals characterised by defensive high self-esteem in natural conditions were less accurate in ISE estimation than those with secure high self-esteem.

Conclusions:
The results, demonstrating people’s access to their implicit self-esteem, may have important implications for clinical, well-being, self-acceptance, or educational issues.

 
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