Implicit Self-esteem High Self-esteem Regulation Heterogeneity

There is more than high or low level of self-esteem. People begin to take more consideration for heterogeneity of high Self-Esteem. There appears to be two forms of high self-esteem: secure high self-esteem( which is often linked with psychological health)and fragile high self-esteem( which is generally associated with poor psychological adjustment and impaired interpersonal relationships).Discrepant high self-esteem is a form of fragile self-esteem characterized by high explicit self-esteem and low implicit self-esteem. The present study examined whether discrepant high self-esteem was associated with other forms of fragile self-esteem in an undergraduate sample. This study adopts the questionnaire method and Implicit Association Test (IAT) to test 114 college students, The results indicated that:1. Individuals with congruent high self-esteem possessed self-esteem that was more stable than individuals with low explicit self-esteem or discrepant high self-esteem.2 Individuals with congruent high self-esteem have more contingent than individuals with low explicit self-esteem or discrepant high self-esteem.3 Individuals with discrepant high self-esteem have more defensive than individuals with low explicit self-esteem or congruent high self-esteem.4.The results of the present study provide further evidence that high self-esteem can be either secure or fragile in nature depending on the discrepancy between implicit and explicit feelings of self-worth.