When conscious and non-conscious self-views clash: Interpersonal and physiological correlates of discrepant implicit and explicit self-esteem.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Although explicit (conscious) and implicit (non-conscious) self-esteem are both recognized as important components of the self, little attention has been paid to the interplay of explicit and implicit self-esteem in the self-system. As a result, very little is known about the consequences of possessing <italic> discrepant</italic> explicit and implicit self-esteem. In the current investigation, two studies tested the idea that discrepancies between people's feelings of explicit and implicit self-esteem are related to specific personality, interpersonal, and physical health variables. Study 1 examined the relations between discrepant self-esteem and personality traits including self-concept clarity, narcissism, self-construal, and language use. Study 1 also assessed the extent to which discrepant self-esteem predicted physical health problems, as evidenced by doctor visits and symptom reporting. Most predictions were not supported by the data, although a small number of theoretically meaningful personality traits were associated with discrepant self-esteem. Study 2 focused on the feedback preferences and physiological arousal levels of people with discrepant versus congruent self-esteem. People with discrepant self-esteem were less interested in negative feedback, expressed more anger when reacting to negative feedback, and exhibited smaller reductions in heart rate when focusing on themselves than did people with congruent self-esteem. Overall, the findings from both studies were only weakly supportive of predictions. Exploratory analyses, however, revealed several interesting effects, and a coherent—though nascent—picture of the individual with discrepant high self-esteem emerged. A major contribution of this research was its use of newly developed measures to study the operation of a heretofore empirically unexplored construct (implicit self-esteem).