Self‐Esteem and Sex as Factors Affecting Influenceability

A total of 60 fifth‐graders (30 males, 30 females) were drawn from high and low scorers on the Coopersmith self‐esteem (S‐E) scale. In a modified Prisoner's Dilemma Game played for M & M candies, subjects were made the targets of either promises of extra reward for cooperating or threats of punishment for not cooperating which were sent by a simulated other player. High S‐E subjects rationally complied more to both threats and promises than did low S‐E subjects, giving support to Cohen's (1959) hypothesis that high S‐E is associated with avoidance or denial defences, while low S‐E is associated with expressive or destructive defences. Subjects receiving promises were more open and truthful in indicating their compliance intentions than were threat‐condition subjects; subjects in both message conditions were more cooperative overall than were no‐message control subjects. A series of interactions of S‐E with sex suggested a confounding effect of adopted sex‐role as a possible explanation for the frequent failure to find with female subjects the direct relationship of low S‐E to persuasibility or compliance that is typically found with males.