On the Role of the Implicit Self-Concept in Adult Attachment

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 282-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke Dewitte ◽  
Jan De Houwer ◽  
Ann Buysse

We report a study that was designed to investigate attachment-related differences in the implicit self-concept and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in the context of attachment research. Two variants of the IAT were used to assess implicit relational self-esteem and relational anxiety after stress induction. Results showed that both the relational self-esteem and relational anxiety IAT (1) were meaningfully related to individual differences in attachment style and (2) predicted cognitive and affective reactions to attachment-related distress in addition to and beyond self-report measures of attachment. The results provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the IAT as an index of the implicit attachment self-concept.

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike X. R. Dislich ◽  
Roland Imhoff ◽  
Rainer Banse ◽  
Christine Altstötter–Gleich ◽  
Axel Zinkernagel ◽  
...  

Three studies investigated the correspondence between implicit and explicit self–concepts of intelligence and how that correspondence is related to performance on different intelligence tests. Configurations of these two self–concepts were found to be consistently related to performance on intelligence tests in all three studies. For individuals who self–reported high intelligence (high explicit self–concept), a negative implicit self–concept (measured with the Implicit Association Test) led to a decrease in performance on intelligence tests. For participants whose self–report indicated a low self–concept of intelligence, positive automatic associations between the self and intelligence had a similar effect. In line with a stress hypothesis, the results indicate that any discrepant configuration of self–concepts will impair performance. Importantly, the prediction of performance on intelligence tests by the self–concept of intelligence was shown to be independent of self–esteem (Study 3). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Author(s):  
Anthony G. Greenwald ◽  
Mahzarin R. Banaji ◽  
Laurie Ann Rudman ◽  
Shelly D. Farnham ◽  
Brian A. Nosek ◽  
...  

This theoretical integration of social psychology’s main cognitive and affective constructs was shaped by three influences: (a) recent widespread interest in automatic and implicit cognition, (b) development of the Implicit Association Test (IAT: Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998), and (c) social psychology's consistency theories of the 1950s – especially Heider's (1958) balance theory. The balanced identity design is introduced as a method to test correlational predictions of the theory. Data obtained with this method revealed that predicted consistency patterns were strongly apparent in the data for implicit (IAT) measures, but not in those for parallel explicit (self-report) measures. Two additional not-yet-tested predictions of the theory are described.


2010 ◽  
Vol 218 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Popa-Roch ◽  
Florian Delmas

Self-concept is accessible information that can be used when facing a demanding task. Based on findings suggesting that effects observed in Implicit Association Tests (IATs) could be partially explained by the procedural features of the task, we investigated the role of participants’ self-inclusion in target categories for group IATs. We propose that IAT constraints lead participants to use self-relevant heuristics related to their membership of target categories in order to respond rapidly, which contributes to IAT group preferences. Thus positive IAT effects should dramatically diminish if participants were induced not to use self-related heuristics. Study 1 showed that when mapping outgroup names and idiosyncratic characteristics of participants onto the same category during the IAT task, the IAT effect no longer occurs. Study 2 replicated these findings when associating outgroup-participants’ idiosyncratic characteristics prior to the completion of the standard IAT. Therefore inhibiting the use of self-related heuristics reduces IAT effects. The implications of our results for the construct validity of prejudice IATs are discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Horcajo ◽  
Víctor J. Rubio ◽  
David Aguado ◽  
José Manuel Hernández ◽  
M. Oliva Márquez

The present work analyses the predictive validity of measures provided by several available self–report and indirect measurement instruments to assess risk propensity (RP) and proposes a measurement instrument using the Implicit Association Test: the IAT of Risk Propensity Self–Concept (IAT–RPSC), an adaptation of the prior IAT–RP of Dislich et al. Study 1 analysed the relationship between IAT–RPSC scores and several RP self–report measures. Participants’ risk–taking behaviour in a natural setting was also assessed, analyzing the predictive validity of the IAT–RPSC scores on risk–taking behaviour compared with the self–report measures. Study 2 analysed the predictive validity of the IAT–RPSC scores in comparison with other indirect measures. Results of these studies showed that the IAT–RPSC scores exhibited good reliability and were positively correlated to several self–report and indirect measures, providing evidence for convergent validity. Most importantly, the IAT–RPSC scores predicted risk–taking behaviour in a natural setting with real consequences above and beyond all other self–report and indirect measures analysed. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Dentale ◽  
Michele Vecchione ◽  
Valerio Ghezzi ◽  
Claudio Barbaranelli

Abstract. In the literature, self-report scales of Self-Esteem (SE) often showed a higher test-retest correlation and a lower situational variability compared to implicit measures. Moreover, several studies showed a close to zero implicit-explicit correlation. Applying a latent state-trait (LST) model on a sample of 95 participants (80 females, mean age: 22.49 ± 6.77 years) assessed at five measurement occasions, the present study aims at decomposing latent trait, latent state residual, and measurement error of the SE Implicit Association Test (SE-IAT). Moreover, in order to compare implicit and explicit variance components, a multi-construct LST was analyzed across two occasions, including both the SE-IAT and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Results revealed that: (1) the amounts of state and trait variance in the SE-IAT were rather similar; (2) explicit SE showed a higher consistency, a lower occasion-specificity, and a lower proportion of error variance than SE-IAT; (3) latent traits of explicit and implicit SE showed a positive and significant correlation of moderate size. Theoretical implications for the implicit measurement of self-esteem were discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8168
Author(s):  
Coral M. Bruni ◽  
P. Wesley Schultz ◽  
Anna Woodcock

Connectedness with nature refers to an individual’s beliefs about their relationship with the natural environment. The current paper integrates connectedness with nature into a broader framework of balanced identity theory as a form of self-concept, and presents new data showing that individuals tend toward balanced-congruity and hold cognitive configurations that balance self-concept, environmental attitudes, and self-esteem. In essence, when an individual scores highly on one of these constructs, it is likely that they will score highly on the other two constructs. Two hundred and seventy-six undergraduate students completed explicit and implicit measures of connectedness with nature, attitudes toward nature, and self-esteem. The balanced-congruity principle was supported with implicit measures (e.g., Implicit Association Test), but not explicitly with self-report measures. Results suggest that attitudes toward nature, connectedness with nature, and self-esteem form a balanced triadic structure of implicit environmental identity. The findings extend our understanding of connectedness with nature, by integrating it into a broader framework that links connectedness, attitudes, and self-esteem as a triadic form of environmental identity. This finding has important implications for practitioners interested in fostering environmental identities and promoting sustainability.


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