Implicit self-esteem is the automatic, nonconscious aspect of self-esteem. This study demonstrated that implicit self-esteem can be increased using a computer game that repeatedly pairs self-relevant information with smiling faces. These findings, which are consistent with principles of classical conditioning, establish the associative and interpersonal nature of implicit self-esteem and demonstrate the potential benefit of applying basic learning principles in this domain.
BaldwinM.W.BaccusJ.R. (2003). An expectancy value approach to self-esteem. InSpencerS.J.FeinS.ZannaM.P.OlsonJ.M.(Eds.), The Ontario Symposium: Vol. 9. Motivated social perception (pp.171–194). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
3.
BaldwinM.W.SinclairL. (1996). Self-esteem and “if…then” contingencies of interpersonal acceptance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1130–1141.
4.
BossonJ.K.SwannW.B.PennebakerJ.W. (2000). Stalking the perfect measure of implicit self-esteem: The blind men and the elephant revisited?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 631–643.
DandeneauS.D.BaldwinM.W.(in press).The inhibition of socially rejecting information among people with high versus low self-esteem: The role of attentional bias and the effects of bias reduction training. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
8.
De HouwerJ.ThomasS.BaeyensF. (2001). Associative learning of likes and dislikes: A review of 25 years of research on human evaluative conditioning. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 853–869.
9.
DickinsonA. (1989). Expectancy theory in animal conditioning. InKleinS.B.MowrerR.R.(Eds.), Contemporary learning theories: Pavlovian conditioning and the status of traditional learning theory (pp.279–308). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
10.
DijksterhuisA. (2004). I like myself but I don't know why: Enhancing implicit self-esteem by subliminal evaluative conditioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 345–355.
11.
FarnhamS.D.GreenwaldA.G.BanajiM.R. (1999). Implicit self-esteem. InAbramsD.HoggsM.A.(Eds.), Social cognition and social identity (pp.230–248). London: Blackwell.
12.
GreenwaldA.G.FarnhamS.D. (2000). Using the implicit association test to measure self-esteem and self-concept. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1022–1038.
13.
HarterS. (1993). Causes and consequences of low self-esteem in children and adolescents. InBaumeisterR.F.(Ed.), Self-esteem: The puzzle of low self-regard (pp.87–116). New York: Plenum Press.
14.
HeathertonT.F.PolivyJ. (1991). Development and validation of a scale for measuring state self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 895–910.
15.
JonesJ.T.PelhamB.W.MirenbergM.C. (2002). Name letter preferences are not merely mere exposure: Implicit egotism as self-regulation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 170–177.
16.
JordanC.H.SpencerS.J.ZannaM.P. (2002, February). Self-esteem and defensiveness: The roles of implicit and explicit self-esteem. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Savannah, GA.
17.
KarpinskiA.HiltonJ.L. (2001). Attitudes and the implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774–788.
18.
KarpinskiA.KieferA.K. (2002, February). The Implicit Association Test as a measure of self-esteem: The role of the other. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Savannah, GA.
19.
KirkpatrickL.A.WaughC.E.ValenciaA.WebsterG.D. (2002). The functional domain specificity of self-esteem and the differential prediction of aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 756–767.
20.
KitayamaS.KarasawaM. (1997). Implicit self-esteem in Japan: Name letters and birthday numbers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 736–742.
21.
KooleS.L.DijksterhuisA.van KnippenbergA. (2001). What's in a name: Implicit self-esteem and the automatic self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 669–685.
22.
LearyM.R.SchreindorferL.S.HaputA.L. (1995). The role of low self-esteem in emotional and behavioral problems: Why is low self-esteem dysfunctional?Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 14, 297–314.
23.
LearyM.R.TamborE.S.TerdalS.K.DownsD.L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 518–530.
24.
McNairD.LorrM.DropplemanL. (1971). Profile of Mood States manual. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
PavlovI.P. (1927). Conditioned reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex. London: Oxford University Press.
27.
PelhamB.W.HettsJ.J. (1999). Implicit and explicit personal and social identity: Toward a more complete understanding of the social self. InTylerT.KramerR.(Eds.), The psychology of the social self (pp.115–143). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
28.
RosenbergM. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
29.
SpaldingL.R.HardinC.D. (1999). Unconscious unease and self-handicapping: Behavioral consequences of individual differences in implicit and explicit self-esteem. Psychological Science, 10, 535–539.
30.
StaatsA.W.StaatsC.K. (1958). Attitudes established by classical conditioning. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 57, 37–40.
31.
TaylorS.P. (1967). Aggressive behavior and psychological arousal as a function of provocation and the tendency to inhibit aggression. Journal of Personality, 35, 297–310.
32.
WaltherE. (2002). Guilty by mere association: Evaluative conditioning and the spreading attitude effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 919–934.