Self-esteem vulnerabilities are associated with cued attentional biases toward rejection

Feelings of insecurity, including those related to low self-esteem, have been linked to broad attentional biases toward social rejection. However, people's insecurities are often not broad and all-encompassing but rather are linked to specific self-worth contingency domains. We hypothesized that a person should exhibit a rejection bias primarily when reminded of a self-perceived flaw in an important domain. We adapted the dot probe measure of attentional bias by beginning each trial with a cue word. First, we re-examined a cognitive avoidance pattern documented in previous research and found that socially anxious people exhibited a rejection bias when cued with social competence flaws such as foolish (Study 1). Next, we found that low self-esteem was associated with a rejection bias when cued with failure (Study 2). Finally, people with specific self-worth contingencies relating to academics (Study 3) and thinness (Study 4) exhibited a rejection bias when cued with stupid and obese, respectively. Our findings show that attentional biases are particularly likely when a person feels most vulnerable.