People gravitate toward people, places, and things that resemble the self. We refer to this tendency as implicit egotism, and we suggest that it reflects an unconscious process that is grounded in people's favorable self-associations. We review recent archival and experimental research that supports this position, highlighting evidence that rules out alternate explanations and distinguishes implicit egotism from closely related ideas such as mere exposure. Taken together, the evidence suggests that implicit egotism is an implicit judgmental consequence of people's positive self-associations. We conclude by identifying promising areas for future research.
FazioR.H.OlsonM.A. (2003). Implicit measures in social cognition research: Their meaning and uses. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 297–327.
2.
KooleS.L.PelhamB.W. (2003). On the nature of implicit self-esteem: The case of the name letter effect. In SpencerS.FeinS.ZannaM.(Eds.), Motivated social perception: The Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 9, pp. 93–116). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
3.
WilsonT.D.DunnE.W. (2004). Self-knowledge: Its limits, value and potential for improvement. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 493–518.
4.
BegganJ.K. (1992). On the social nature of nonsocial perception: The mere ownership effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 229–237.
5.
6.
7.
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.
8.
GreenwaldA.G.BanajiM.R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102, 4–27.
9.
HettsJ.J.PelhamB.W. (2001). A case for the non-conscious self-concept. InMoskowitzG.(Ed.),Cognitive social psychology: The Princeton Symposium on the Legacy and Future of Social Cognition (pp.105–123). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
10.
JonesJ.T.PelhamB.W.CarvalloM.MirenbergM.C. (2004). How do I love thee? Let me count the Js: Implicit egotism and interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 665–683.
11.
JonesJ.T.PelhamB.W.MirenbergM.C.HettsJ.J. (2002). Name letter preferences are not merely mere exposure: Implicit egotism as self-regulation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 170–177.
12.
KihlstromJ.F. (1987). The cognitive unconscious. Science, 237, 1445–1452.
13.
NuttinJ.M. (1985). Narcissism beyond Gestalt and awareness: The name letter effect. European Journal of Social Psychology, 15, 353–361.
14.
PelhamB.W.CarvalloM.DeHartT.JonesJ.T. (2003). Assessing the validity of implicit egotism: A reply to Gallucci. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 800–807.
15.
PelhamB.W.MirenbergM.C.JonesJ.K. (2002). Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 469–487.
16.
ShimizuM.PelhamB.W. (2004). The unconscious cost of good fortune: Implicit and explicit self-esteem, positive life events, and health. Health Psychology, 23, 101–105.
17.
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.
