Implicit measures for preschool children confirm self-esteem's role in maintaining a balanced identity

Self-esteem is one of social psychology's central constructs. Despite the wide endorsement of the importance of self-esteem, there remains substantial variation in theoretical conceptions of how self-esteem functions. To help address this point, 234 5-year-old children were tested in 3 studies that used a new implicit measure, the Preschool Implicit Association Test (PSIAT). The PSIAT assessed associations of (a) me with good (self-esteem), (b)...