Implicit self-esteem is the automatic and unconscious component of self-esteem, which is generally not correlated with more traditional measures of explicit self-esteem. The goal of the research presented in this dissertation was to test a cognitive model of implicit self-esteem. Drawing from interpersonal theories of self-esteem and from theories of evaluative learning, I hypothesized that implicit self-esteem is developed through repeated exposure to pairings of the self with interpersonal rejection or acceptance, leading to unconscious and automatic self--rejected or self--accepted cognitive associations. I tested this theory using a computer-based conditioning task designed to enhance implicit self-esteem through the repeated pairing of self-relevant information (e.g., first name, birthday) with interpersonal acceptance (i.e., photographs of smiling faces). Support for this hypothesis was found in four studies. Overall, participants who completed the computer-based conditioning task generally had higher scores on the self-esteem Implicit Associations Test compared to participants in a control condition. Furthermore, the conditioning task had no effect on explicit self-esteem scores, providing support for the distinct nature of implicit self-esteem relative to explicit self-esteem. Finally, exploratory analyses showed that contingency awareness was not needed for evaluative conditioning to occur. These findings support the proposed cognitive model of implicit self-esteem and provide a novel computer-based conditioning task for enhancing implicit self-esteem.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.85879 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Baccus, Jodene Robin |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002269042, proquestno: AAINR21616, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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