Are implicit and explicit measures of self-esteem related? A meta-analysis for the Name-Letter Test

A meta-analysis of the empirical literature was conducted to examine the strength of empirical associations between explicit (questionnaire) measures of self-esteem and one of the most frequently used implicit self-esteem measures – the Name-Letter Test (Nuttin, 1985). Results indicated that the NLT was consistently, albeit weakly, related to explicit self-esteem measures. Also, increasing the accessibility of explicit self-esteem (by administering the questionnaire measure prior to the implicit measure) increased the magnitude of association. Discussion centers on the role of psychometric factors in dissociations between explicit and implicit self-esteem measures. Implications for measurement and conceptualization of self-esteem also are discussed.