Implicit Attitudes Toward the Self Over Time

Abstract

Three studies examined whether people hold meaningful implicit attitudes toward future selves. Two approaches to measuring implicit future self-esteem were developed (individualized and generic Implicit Association Tests) and attitudes toward the self in ten (Studies 1 and 2) or one years' time (Study 3) were assessed. We predicted that implicit future self-esteem would be less strongly influenced by self-enhancement and wishful thinking than explicit future self-esteem. Consistent with this expectation, people's explicit self-esteem was more positive toward their future than their current self, whereas implicit future self-esteem was not enhanced relative to the present. As expected, implicit (but not explicit) future self-esteem predicted academic and health motivation, as well as greater elaboration of, and more structure in, future goals. In contrast, explicit (but not implicit) future self-esteem predicted future-oriented measures more linked to wishful thinking: positive fantasies and general optimism. These results suggest that implicit future self-esteem is meaningfully distinct from explicit future self-esteem and has implications for motivation and goals.

Keywords::

• Implicit attitudes
• Self-esteem
• Temporal selves
• Goals
• Motivation

Notes

^1. A pilot test confirmed that selecting adjectives to represent their current self and future self in ten years' time was relatively easy for participants: A separate sample of 44 participants (M_age = 18.57 years) completed the same adjective selection tasks for the current and future self in counterbalanced order (no order effects were found), yielding a substantial proportion of distinct, non-overlapping characteristics for present and future self. Pilot participants rated the adjectives they selected for the current and future self as equally important for their corresponding self-concepts (Ms = 4.52 and 4.56 on 7-point scales); t(43) = − 0.54, p = .59, and rated the adjective selection tasks as equally difficult (Ms = 5.14 and 4.91 on 11-point scales); paired t(43) = 0.50, p = .62.

^2. The most commonly chosen adjectives in Study 1 were friendly, fun-loving, loving, honest, and emotional for the current self; for the future self they were loving, knowledgeable, confident, educated, and accomplished. In Study 2, the most commonly chosen adjectives for the current self were friendly, easy-going, approachable, caring, and hard-working; for the future self, they were educated, hard-working, knowledgeable, confident, and focused.

^3. The conventional cut off at a 20% error rate deleted 48% of IAT values for the present self IAT (n = 25) and 46% for the future self IAT (n = 24), leaving only 16 participants who completed both IATs with an error rate of less than 20%.

^4. If a 20% error cut off is instead used, this pattern changed: participants showed equally high implicit self-esteem for their current self (M = 0.68, SD = 0.55) and their future self (M = 0.67, SD = 0.49), paired t(15) = 0.01, p = .992.

^5. With a 20% error cut off, this pattern did not change: only implicit future self-esteem emerged as a significant predictor of academic motivation, β = 0.66, t(11) = 3.00, p = .012, and career goals, β = 0.58, t(11) = 2.31, p = .04, and though non-significant, the magnitude of the relation of implicit future self-esteem to health goals remained equivalently high, β = 0.43, t(11) = 1.63, p = .132 (all other βs < 0.28).