Do Defensive Pessimists Have Really Low Self-Esteem? An Examination Focused on the Implicit Self-Esteem

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that defensive pessimists (DPs) show the same high performance as strategic optimists (SOs), though they exhibit lower self-esteem and higher anxiety than SOs. In general, high anxiety inhibits subsequent performance. It is not clear why DPs are able to perform well on tasks despite their low self-esteem and high anxiety. In the two studies conducted here, we focused on the implicit self-esteem of DPs as well as their explicit self-esteem. In Study 1, differences in explicit self-esteem among four types of cognitive strategies (DP, SO, RP, UO) were investigated. In Study 2, differences in implicit self-esteem were examined. Results showed that DPs had the same high implicit self-esteem as SOs, although they reported lower explicit self-esteem.