Affirming the Less Defended Self: Quiet Ego Reminders Reduce Implicit Self-Other Bias

The quiet ego reflects psychological mechanisms that enable individuals to interpret themselves and others less defensively by balancing concerns for the welfare and growth of both (Bauer & Weatherbie, 2023). Two experimental studies tested the hypothesis that listening to brief reminders of four quiet ego characteristics would reduce a common form of defensiveness: self-other bias. In Study 1, female college students (N = 112) completed surveys and then were randomly assigned to one of two conditions consisting of a 5 min audio reminding them of key ideas related to the quiet ego (self-affirmation condition) or goal setting (control condition). Immediately following the intervention participants completed the Self-versus-Other Implicit Association Test (SOI-IAT; Thorton & Aknin, 2020) where terms related to self and other, pleasant and unpleasant, are paired. As predicted, compared to controls, those who listened to the quiet ego reminders showed no self-other bias. Study 2 modified delivery of the quiet ego and control intervention materials and included of compassion-related outcomes in a sample of college women (N = 126). The primary hypothesis was supported, and compared to controls, those exposed to the quiet ego reminders reported less self-other bias, more compassion for the self, and more even-handed compassion for the self and others. Discussion focuses on the potential utility of embedding quiet ego content into brief interventions to reduce excessively self-focused related psychological processes.