Abstract
The present study sought to assess the impact of self-esteem and ego threat on inhibition and, by extension, long-term memory. Two samples of undergraduate college students were placed into either an ego threat or control condition. We attempted to alter their state self-esteem level and then administered a Rejection Stroop task in order to assess their ability to inhibit non-target information. We looked at the interaction effect of trait self-esteem, ego threat and word valence (rejecting or accepting words) on the sample’s attentional and memory processes. No significant effects were found.