When do ego threats lead to self-regulation failure? Negative consequences of defensive high self-esteem.
High self-esteem (HSE) is increasingly recognized as heterogeneous. By measuring subtypes of HSE, the present research reevaluates the finding that HSE individuals show poor self-regulation following ego threat (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1993). In Experiment 1, participants with HSE showed poor self-regulation after ego threat only if they also were defensive (high in self-presentation bias). In Experiment 2, two measures--self-presentation bias and implicit self-esteem--were used to subtype HSE individuals as defensive. Both operationalizations of defensive HSE predicted poor self-regulation after ego threat. The results indicate that (a) only defensive HSE individuals are prone to self-regulation failure following ego threat and (b) measures of self-presentation bias and implicit self-esteem can both be used to detect defensiveness.
Lambird
Kathleen Hoffman
KH
University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA. kmjh@ucla.edu
Mann
Traci
T
D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014936:Word Association Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data