Rotten to the core: Neuroticism and implicit evaluations of the self

Neuroticism, from both clinical and trait-based perspectives, should be associated with non-conscious, as well as conscious, forms of negativity. We sought to validate this insight by examining relations between negative affectivity and implicit evaluations of the self. In two studies involving 104 undergraduates, neuroticism correlated significantly with both explicit and implicit self-esteem, despite the lack of correlation among the latter measures. In addition, we found that implicit self-esteem predicted experimenter-reported (Study 1) and informant-reported (Study 2) negative affect. Our findings converge on two ideas, namely: (1) that neuroticism is associated with both conscious and non-conscious evaluations of the self; and (2) that implicit self-esteem shares an intimate relation with negative affectivity, whether self-reported or observer-reported. Such results validate clinical insights concerning neuroticism as well as further the case that implicit self-esteem has implications for one's experience and display of negative affect.