Relationship-contingent self-esteem and implicit attitudes: Associations between implicit attitudes toward oneself, one's partner, and one's relationship

Contingencies of self-worth (CSW) reflect self-esteem that is contingent on performance in a domain of personal importance. Relationship-contingent self-esteem (RCSE) extends CSW theory to the domain of relationships, where RCSE reflects self-esteem that is contingent upon one's relationship. These contingencies have been measured explicitly and may also be detected using implicit measures. Two studies examined the extent to which RCSE reflects implicit measures of attitudes about and affect toward the self, partner, and relationship, as measured using the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). Study 1 examined implicit evaluation of oneself, one's partner and one's relationship. Study 2 examined implicit affect toward oneself, one's partner and one's relationship. For both implicit evaluation and affect it was hypothesized that the relation between implicit self and partner constructs would be stronger when RCSE was higher. Similarly, it was expected that the relation between implicit self and relationship constructs would be stronger when RCSE was higher. Finally, the association between implicit self and relationship constructs was expected to be stronger than the association between self and partner constructs, particularly when RCSE was higher. Results did not support hypotheses across studies. Findings are discussed in the context of criticism of the IAT and suggestions are made for future investigations of implicit associations in the context of relationships.