High self-esteem discrepancy and low implicit self-esteem are associated with facial rejection bias

Abstract

Humans are sensitive to facial acceptance and rejection cues but often exhibit biases when they interpret ambiguous facial cues. While self-reported self-esteem (SE) is known to influence social cue perception, the roles of Explicit Self-Esteem (ESE), Implicit Self-Esteem (ISE) or Self-Esteem discrepancy size (SEDS: absolute difference between standardised ESE and ISE) in interpreting ambiguous facial expressions of acceptance (happiness) and rejection (disgust) are yet to be defined. In two novel studies, ESE and ISE were measured via a self-report questionnaire and an implicit association test, respectively. Social anxiety and the age of the observer were controlled for in the current design. Study 1 (N = 297) used multiple facial identities, whereas Study 2 (N = 98) employed an average facial identity, testing the task's sensitivity in revealing emotion interpretation biases. Additionally, Study 2 introduced an SE threat task to explore whether these biases were modulated by performance feedback. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression revealed that ISE and SEDS significantly predicted emotion interpretation; as ISE decreased and SEDS increased, more faces were interpreted as disgusted rather than happy. These findings suggest that low ISE and high SEDS may contribute to a negative perception bias, with implications for navigating social environments.