What's in a name: Implicit self-esteem and the automatic self

This article explores the links between implicit self-esteem and the automa tic self (D. L. Paulbus, 1993). Across 4 studies, name letter evaluations w ere positively biased, confirming that implicit self-esteem is generally po sitive (A. G. Greenwald & M. R. Banaji, 1995). Study I found that this name letter bias was stable over a 4-week period. Study 2 found that positive b ias for name letters and positive bias for birth date numbers were correlat ed and that both biases became inhibited when participants were induced to respond in a deliberative manner. Studies 3-4 found that implicit self-eval uations corresponded with self-reported self-evaluations, but only when par ticipants were evaluating themselves very quickly (Study 3) or under cognit ive load (Study 4). Together, these findings support the notion that implic it self-esteem phenomena are driven by self-evaluations that are activated automatically and without conscious self-reflection.