Date of Award

2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem on social identity affirmation among Latinos in response to belonging threats from other ingroup members. We predicted a three-way interaction between implicit self-esteem, explicit self-esteem, and belonging threat condition predicting social identity affirmation (collective self-esteem), compensatory conviction and ingroup bias. We predicted that individuals with insecure self-esteem (high explicit, low implicit) would affirm their social identity more, offer greater conviction and express more ingroup bias in response to recalled threats as compared to a control condition of non-threatened participants. A total of n=174 Latinos participated in the online study. In the experimental condition (n=78), participants were instructed to recall and write about a time in which another Latino questioned or challenged the validity of their Latino identity. A control group (n=96) was asked to write about the last movie they watched. Regression analyses revealed no significant three-way interactions. However, significant two-way interactions between implicit self-esteem and condition, and explicit self-esteem and condition, on social identity affirmation were found. Implicit and explicit levels of self-esteem uniquely predicted collective self-esteem, conviction and ingroup warmth ratings among threatened individuals. Implications are discussed.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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