Types of high self-esteem and prejudice: how implicit self-esteem relates to ethnic discrimination among high explicit self-esteem individuals.
There is increasing recognition that high self-esteem is heterogeneous. Recent research suggests that individuals who report having high self-esteem (i.e., have high explicit self-esteem) behave more defensively to the extent that they have relatively low implicit self-esteem. The current studies test whether individuals with high explicit self-esteem are more likely to discriminate ethnically, as a defensive technique, to the extent that they have relatively low implicit self-esteem. The results support this prediction. Among participants with high explicit self-esteem, all of whom were threatened by negative performance feedback, those with relatively low implicit self-esteem recommended a more severe punishment for a Native, but not a White, student who started a fist-fight. In Study 2, this pattern was not apparent for participants with relatively low explicit self-esteem.
Jordan
Christian H
CH
University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. cjordan@wlu.ca
Spencer
Steven J
SJ
Zanna
Mark P
MP
D000328:Adult; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires