Secure and defensive high self-esteem.
Long-standing theories have suggested high self-esteem (SE) can assume qualitatively different forms that are related to defensiveness. The authors explored whether some high-SE individuals are particularly defensive because they harbor negative self-feelings at less conscious levels, indicated by low implicit SE. In Study 1, participants high in explicit SE but low in implicit SE showed the highest levels of narcissism--an indicator of defensiveness. In Studies 2 and 3, the correspondence between implicit and explicit SE predicted defensive behavior (in-group bias in Study 2 and dissonance reduction in Study 3), such that for high explicit-SE participants, those with relatively low implicit SE behaved more defensively. These results are consistent with the idea that high SE can be relatively secure or defensive.
Jordan
Christian H
CH
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. cjordan@wlu.ca
Spencer
Steven J
SJ
Zanna
Mark P
MP
Hoshino-Browne
Etsuko
E
Correll
Joshua
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D015982:Bias; D003073:Cognitive Dissonance; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009289:Narcissism; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011930:Reaction Time; D012649:Self Concept; D014936:Word Association Tests