Implicit egotism is a tendency for people to be attracted to places, things, and other people that are like them. This tendency is caused by unconscious associations between the self and an object, person, or place (Pelham, Carvallo, & Jones, 2005). Previous studies done by Kocan et.al (2009) and Pelham et.al (2003) validate the concept of implicit egotism and rule out any alternate explanation for its effects. A study done by Jones et al. (2002) distinguishes implicit egotism from other similar concepts such as the mere exposure effect. The previous research suggests that the self-associations caused by implicit egotism are generally positive but it is possible that negative associations exist as well. This is a gap in the previous research. If it is true that negative associations can be caused by implicit egotism, then it is possible that implicit egotism may also cause people to respond unfavorably in some situations. For example, a person who has low self-esteem or a negative self-concept may respond unfavorably to someone who shares their name initials. This paper will investigate that possibility. Another gap in the previous research lies in the fact that no research has been done to examine how implicit egotism interacts with personality traits. This study proposes that the effects of implicit egotism may change depending on the personality traits of the person being observed. Implicit egotism is a generally understudied phenomenon but it may play an important role in peoples’ appraisals and affect major life decisions (Pelham et al., 2002). Previous research on how implicit egotism may affect resume evaluations is severely lacking but this is a very practical area where current research can be conducted. The purpose... ... middle of paper ...
...ould do to ensure that it never affects them. The burden of correcting any unfairness caused by these phenomena is entirely on employers. There are several ways in which future studies could build upon our current research. Since we had an unexpected main effect for neuroticism, this effect needs further investigation. Additionally, there may be effects for other traits of the Big 5 personality model. Future studies could investigate how these other traits affect resume evaluations and how they interact with implicit egotism.
Our study used initial matching to measure implicit egotism because it was a simple method. However, there may be other ways to measure implicit egotism that may reveal more about this phenomenon. Future studies could use any alternate methods of measuring implicit egotism to branch out and increase the reliability of these studies.
A few years back, a woman named Kelly Hildebrandt was bored so she searched Facebook and was surprised when she came across a man with the exact same name as her own. Curious, Kelly sent this other Kelly a message and the two began talking on a daily basis. Within a year, they were engaged. That's right: "Do you, Kelly Hildebrandt, solemnly swear to take… Kelly Hildebrandt?"
Although it is a rare occurrence for two people with the exact same name to marry, this story actually reflects a basic psychological process that occurs more often than we like to think.
Implicit egotism refers to the idea that we naturally gravitate toward people, places, and things that resemble ourself. For example, we strongly prefer the letters in our name and the numbers in our birthdate. Don't believe me? Then quickly jot down your three favorite letters in the alphabet. How many of those letters are in your name? Now do you believe me?
This preference for the letters in our name exists because we write our names thousands of times over our lifetime, so we are more familiar with those letters, and, research shows, the more familiar something is, the more we like it. What does this psychological factoid have to do with everyday life? Surprisingly, this preference for the self drives a lot of our decisions. Implicit egotism makes us attracted to people whose names are similar to our own. The Hildebrandts are just one example, but there are other, higher-profile couples that fit this mold, including exes Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz and the briefly engaged Paris Hilton and Paris Latsis. But even just a few similar letters is enough to increase a couple's attraction. In a series of studies by John Jones and colleagues, participants were more attracted to people whose surname shared letters with their own surname.
This may sound bizarre at first, but the truth is that we all engage in this process when looking for a mate. Research shows time and again that the key factor in attraction is similarity—we are attracted to people who share our values, level of education, past experiences and goals for the future.
Essentially, we are trying to date ourselves.
That is not to say that we want to marry exact clones of ourselves. A few differences create interest and excitement, but for the most part, we seek someone whose core foundation is identical to our own. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this approach. It is much easier to maintain a relationship and raise children when both partners see eye to eye.
But implicit egotism doesn't just influence who we are attracted to. Numerous research studies have found that it influences other life decisions, including where we choose to live (e.g., it's more likely for Louis to move to St. Louis), our choice of job (e.g., it's more likely for Dennis and Denise to become dentists), and even our choice of brand-name products (e.g., it's more likely that Chris would prefer Coke over Pepsi). It can even affect how students perform in school; students with names that begin with "A" perform better in class than students with names that begin with "D".
Is there anything wrong with the fact that we love ourselves so much? As with many things in life, Aristotle's golden mean applies here as well: Too little or too much self-love can be bad. Too little, a.k.a. low self-esteem, often results in depression and anxiety. Too much leads to narcissism and is detrimental to those around us. For example, people with high self-esteem are more likely to be bullies and engage in violent crime. Violent criminals often describe themselves as superior to others and their violent assaults are typically in response to a perceived insult or blow to their self-esteem. (This is a fact that talk shows and self-help magazines neglect to mention whenever they suggest ways to increase your self-esteem.)
Unfortunately, excessive self-love seems to be on the rise in our country. College students' scores on one measure of narcissism rose twice as fast between 2002 and 2007 as it had from 1982 to 2006 (See Jean Twenge's blog "The Narcissism Epidemic" for more info). This steep incline can help explain our society's obsessions with plastic surgery, YouTube, Twitter, sexting, and social networking sites.
How do we put the brakes on this trend? Can we raise children to be confident without being narcissistic? First, it is important to set clear rules for your children and not budge on them. By saying no and meaning it, you are refusing to give your child the power in the relationship. Living with rules and boundaries teaches children they are not the center of the universe. Second, avoid sending messages that communicate a "win at all cost" mentality. Narcissistic college students admit to their inflated self-views, but justify them by stating that overconfidence is required to survive the modern highly-competitive world. Confidence is something we want to instill in our children, but overconfidence will set them up with unrealistic expectations and encourage them to be too risky in their decisions. Finally, we need to teach our children empathy and compassion for others. These are qualities we often talk about but rarely model for our children.
Below are a few research articles on implicit egotism:
Pelham et al., 2005
Pelham et al., 2002
In act II of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet first learns that Romeo (her new love) is a Montague, a longstanding familial rival. Overwhelmed by the dismay of her predicament, she famously longs for her lover in harmonious soliloquy:
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet,” as if saying, ‘I don’t care what his name is, names are arbitrary; like a rose, I love him for who he is, not his name.’
The Bard’s essential point here is certainly romantic, but he obviously wasn’t privy to the psychological insights of the last ten years. If he were, I think Juliet might retract her words altogether.
For names are not just placeholders, not merely semantic conveniences to define Romeo from Juliet. Names have significance and may even be responsible for shaping more life-choices than we would so readily admit. Does your favorite letter appear in your name? If so, read on:
The Name Letter Effect
Social psychologists Brett W. Pelham, Matthew C. Mirenberg, and John T. Jones studied precisely this issue: how do our names affect the type of people we become and the decisions we make? Their findings were published in a 2002 study Why Susie Sells Seashells by the Seashore: Implicit Egotism and Major Life Decisions. Pelham’s theory was that our names, as words that we intrinsically associate with, might influence significant life choices that we make (such as where to live and what occupation to pursue). He conducted ten different studies to this effect.
There is a similar psychological theory called the name letter effect; a phenomenon that measures implicit self esteem based on nominal associations with the alphabet. In the name letter effect, participants are given a list of letters and told to arbitrarily select their favorites. In almost all cases, cross-culturally and linguistically, participants tend to prefer letters in their first name.
The findings from Pelham’s studies were truly remarkable. Using a conditional probability formula based on percentile population statistics by name, Pelham’s study found that there were significantly more Dennises who were dentists and more Lauras who were lawyers than any statistical projection which factored in the popularity of the name with the probability of either occupation. The same was true for female dentists and male lawyers with names that fit their profession.