Scholarly/Research Interests

Most people think of self-esteem as having only a single dimension: high versus low. Recent research, however, has examined not just explicit or consciously accessible feelings of self-worth, but also implicit or relatively automatic/subconscious assessments of self. In my research, I examine the differences between people with defensive self-esteem (defined as high explicit coupled with low implicit self-esteem) and those with secure self-esteem (high explicit/high implicit), particularly following ego threat. I’ve discovered that, relative to people with secure self-esteem, those with discrepant self-esteem are more likely to suppress thoughts following failure, have clearer and more emotionally negative memories of shameful past events, pay greater attention to social rejection cues, respond to a social rejection by derogating their evaluator, rate negative feedback as more negative, make more external attributions for performance, and take more risks following failure (men only).