Can Evaluative Conditioning Change Explicit Attitudes Toward Self-Esteem?

The present study used evaluative conditioning in attempt to increase participants’ explicit self-esteem. The method of this study involved pairing pre-rated pictures, both positive and neutral, with pronouns relating to either the self or others. The self-pronouns used were me, myself, and mine. The pronouns relating to others that were used were they, them, and others. It was hypothesized that when self-pronouns were paired with positive pictures, the self-esteem of participants would increase. To counterbalance this, pronouns relating to others were paired with positive pictures. Results showed no significant interactions between group and self-esteem. No groups showed a significant increase in levels of self-esteem