Are Implicit Self‐Esteem Measures Valid for Assessing Individual and Cultural Differences?. Issue 1 (8th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Falk, Carl F.; Heine, Steven J.; Takemura, Kosuke; Zhang, Cathy X. J.; Hsu, Chih‐Wei
• Is Part Of: Journal of personality. Volume 83:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 56
• Page End: 68
• Publication Date: 2014-02-08
• Subjects: Psychology -- Periodicals; Character -- Periodicals; Personality -- Periodicals; Personality; 155.2
• DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12082
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3506

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="jopy12082-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>Our research utilized two popular theoretical conceptualizations of implicit self‐esteem: 1) implicit self‐esteem as a global automatic reaction to the self; and 2) implicit self‐esteem as a context/domain specific construct. Under this framework, we present an extensive search for implicit self‐esteem measure validity among different cultural groups (Study 1) and under several experimental manipulations (Study 2).</p> </sec> <sec id="jopy12082-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Method</title> <p>In Study 1, Euro‐Canadians (<italic>N</italic> = 107), Asian‐Canadians (<italic>N</italic> = 187), and Japanese (<italic>N</italic> = 112) completed a battery of implicit self‐esteem, explicit self‐esteem, and criterion measures. Included implicit self‐esteem measures were either popular or provided methodological improvements upon older methods. Criterion measures were sampled from previous research on implicit self‐esteem and included self‐report and independent ratings. In Study 2, Americans (<italic>N</italic> = 582) completed a shorter battery of these same types of measures under either a control condition, an explicit prime meant to activate the self‐concept in a particular context, or prime meant to activate self‐competence related implicit attitudes.</p> </sec> <sec id="jopy12082-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Across both studies, explicit self‐esteem measures far outperformed implicit self‐esteem measures in all cultural groups and under all experimental manipulations.</p> </sec> <sec id="jopy12082-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Implicit self‐esteem measures are not valid for individual or cross‐cultural comparisons. We speculate that individuals may not form implicit associations with the self as an attitudinal object.</p> </sec> </abstract>