Can name-liking be used as an indicator of implicit self-esteem?

Abstract

A new method for measuring implicit self-esteem was developed: asking a person how much they like their name. One previous study which tested the validity of this name-liking measure with using mainly Westerner as participants found that the measure was positively correlated with the self-esteem Implicit Association Test (IAT), the name-letter task, and explicit self-esteem measures. In this study, we examined whether name-liking is an indicator of implicit self-esteem in Japan. In six studies, 646 participants completed the self-esteem IAT, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and name-liking measure. Meta-analysis showed that name-liking was positively correlated with the Rosenberg self-esteem scale but not significantly correlated with the self-esteem IAT. These results suggest that, in Japan, name-liking cannot be used as a substitute for the self-esteem IAT, which is the most commonly used measure of implicit self-esteem.