The Effects of Self-Esteem on
Implicit Stereotypes
Katie Fisher
and
Jenny McGuinness
Stereotyping
“When an individual encounters
another, he/she routinely categorizes
that person in terms of salient
features.” (Bertram et al., 2002)
Automatic vs. Controlled
Processes
•Automatic processes are mental
processes that occur without
conscious effort.
•Controlled processes are mental
processes that we consciously
control.
Automatic Processes vs.
Personal Beliefs
Stereotypes can be learned in
childhood and become automatic. In
this way, stereotypes can affect us
without our conscious involvement.
(Devine, 1989)
Implicit Association Test
This test assesses implicit
attitudes people have by having
them quickly categorize stimulus
words using two response keys.
Formation of the IAT
Most IAT tests are made up of 5 blocks:
•Initial target-concept
•Attribute discrimination
•Initial combined task
•Reversed target-concept
•Reversed combined task
Each block starts with short instructions for the specific task and
requests the participant to respond as fast as possible. (Bertram
et.al, 2002)
Initial Target-Concept
African American
European American
*Instructions: As quickly
as possible hit the left
key if the face is African
American and the right
key if the face is
European American
Attribute Discrimination
*Instructions:
As quickly as
possible hit the
left key if the
word is “good”
and the right
key if the word
is “bad”
Initial Combined Task (Critical
Block 1!!)
African American
European American
Good
Bad
Face OR Word
*Instructions: As
quickly as possible
hit the left key if
the face or word is
African American
or “good” and the
right key if the
word or face is
European
American or “bad”
Reversed Target Concept
*Instructions: As
quickly as
possible hit the
left key if the
face is
European
American and
the right key if
the face is
African
American
Reversed Combined Task
(Critical block 2!!)
European American
African American
Good
Bad
Face OR Word
*Instructions: As
quickly as possible
hit the left key if
the face or word is
European
American or
“good” and the
right key if the
word or face is
African American
or “bad”
IAT Effect
It is presumed that a larger IAT effect – or larger
gap between congruent and non-congruent reaction
times - shows that the individual has a stronger
association in memory between the specific concept
pairings (i.e. European American-good or African
American-bad) that make the judgment faster.
For example: White individuals typically
categorize more quickly when the paired
words are “white or good” or “black or bad”
than with opposite pairings
(McConnell & Leibold, 2000)
Self-Esteem
“An affective component of the self,
consisting of a person’s positive and
negative self-evaluations.”
(Brem, Kassin, & Fein, 2002)
Personal: Self-esteem based on self perception
Collective: Self esteem based on group
membership
Self-esteem & Stereotypes
Those who base their self-esteem on their own
self perception tend to make up for low
esteem by picking on others in order to raise
self-esteem
Those who exhibit collective selfesteem make an attempt to remain
positive about social identity, and
therefore self-esteem
-(De Cremer, 2000)
Current Study
This study will look at the effects of
an individual’s self-esteem (both
personal and collective) on his/her
unconscious tendency to
stereotype.
Our Hypothesis
We believe that those with low
self-esteem will have more
unconscious stereotypes than
those with high self-esteem.
Participants


Small Midwestern Liberal Arts College
41 total subjects



19 Male
22 Female
Between ages of 18-22




Freshman: 14
Sophomore: 14
Junior: 5
Senior: 9
Procedure


Informed Consent
Demographics




SES status
Age
Number of siblings
Major & Minor
Self-Esteem
Personal
a = .87
Scales
Self-Esteem (PSE) –
Using
Rosenberg Self-Esteem
Inventory
Example question: “I am able to
do things as well as most other
people.”
Collective
a = .85
Self-Esteem (CSE) –
Example
question: “I am a
worthy member of the social
groups I belong to.”
IAT Procedure

IAT

Participants given specific instructions
in order to take the IAT:
http://psychexps.olemiss.edu/Exps/IAT_Race/IATRace
.htm
Before running subjects, set up project
 Placed assigned participant number in as
their “guest name.”
 Received another number/letter code
 To get our data ran selected our project


Debriefing
IAT Effect
Reaction Time
IAT Main Effect
1.5
1
Congruent
Non-Congruent
0.5
0
IAT Categories
IAT: F (1,39) = 75.99, p <.01 Gender: F (1,39) = .15, (n.s.) IAT x Gender:
F (1,39) = .90, (n.s.)
IAT Scoring
IAT Difference Time = NC - C
-After obtaining the participants times offline, their
congruent time was subtracted from their non-congruent
time to obtain their IAT difference times.
Overall Results
IAT Dif.
IAT Dif.
PSE
PSE
r = -.119,
(n.s.)
CSE
r =.036,
(n.s.)
r=
.495,p<.01
Overall, we found no significant correlations with the IAT
difference which means our hypothesis was not supported.
Results by Gender - Female
IAT Dif.
IAT Dif.
PSE
PSE
CSE
r = -.115,
(n.s.)
r = -.409,
p = .059
r = .710,
p<.01
Females show a trend towards a significant relationship between IAT and CSE
Results by Gender - Male
IAT Dif.
IAT Dif.
PSE
PSE
r = -.247,
(n.s.)
CSE
r = .522,
p<.05
r = .014,
(n.s.)
Although with the men there is a significant correlation between IAT and
CSE, it is a positive correlation which indicates the higher self-esteem men
have, the more likely they are to implicitly stereotype.
Scatterplot
.8
There is one outlier that
could be driving the
correlation, what would
happen if it was taken
out?
.6
.4
.2
0.0
IAT
-.2
Let’s find out…
-.4
70
CSE
80
90
100
110
120
We Found Out
IAT
PSE
CSE
r = -.094, r = .276,
(n.s.)
(n.s.)
r = .087,
(n.s.)
IAT
PSE
.7
.6
.5
.4
.3
.2
IAT
.1
0.0
80
CSE
90
100
110
120
The correlation was no longer
significant which leads us to
believe that the correlation was
not real.
Discussion
 Hypothesis
not supported – why?
IAT unconscious
 PSE and CSE are conscious

Discussion Continued

CSE and PSE highly correlated for
women – but not for men


What does this mean?
Possible gender difference in collective and
personal self-esteem…women tend to base
self-esteem more on group membership
while men base their self-esteem on a
more personal level.
Limitations
Small, Liberal Arts College
 Most males were from a single
fraternity
 Only had one non-Caucasian participant
(Pacific Islander)

Possible Future Directions

Develop an implicit measure of selfesteem

Greenwald et. al (2002)
Look at the relationship between
personal and collective self-esteem in
men and women
 More diversity in the sample

Questions