2015/09/15 by Brett W. Pelham, Mauricio Carvallo · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Psychology #Unconscious mind #Social psychology #Preference #Ethnic group #Implicit attitude #Implicit personality theory #Developmental psychology #Personality #Psychoanalysis #Sociology #Anthropology
paper · doi:10.1080/15298868.2015.1070745
openalex publication_date 2015/09/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/02
Implicit egotism is an unconscious preference for things resembling the self. Four studies provided unprecedented evidence for implicit egotism. Study 1 used census data to show that men disproportionately worked in 11 traditionally male occupations whose titles matched their surnames (e.g., baker, carpenter, farmer). Study 2 used statewide marriage records to show that people disproportionately married others who shared their birthday numbers. Study 3 showed that men named Cal and Tex disproportionately moved to states resembling their names. Study 4 showed how it is possible to reverse implicit egotism in naming preferences. All four studies controlled for important confounds (e.g., gender, ethnicity, education), identified theoretically predictable moderators (e.g., implicit self-esteem, social status), or both. Future research should focus on other theoretically derived moderators of implicit egotism.