View source for Name-letter effect

{{short description|Tendency of people to prefer the letters in their name over other letters in the alphabet}}
{{featured article}}
{{use American English|date=May 2023}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
The '''name-letter effect''' is the tendency of people to prefer the [[letter (alphabet)|letters]] in their [[personal name|name]] over other letters in the [[alphabet]]. Whether [[Human subject research|subjects]] are asked to rank all letters of the alphabet, rate each of the letters, choose the letter they prefer out of a set of two, or pick a small set of letters they most prefer, on average people consistently like the letters in their own name the most. Crucially, subjects are not aware that they are choosing letters from their name.

Discovered in 1985 by the Belgian [[psychologist]] [[Jozef Nuttin]], the name-letter effect has been replicated in dozens of studies, involving subjects from over 15 countries, using four different alphabets. It holds across age and gender. People who changed their names many years ago tend to prefer the letters of both their current and original names over non-name letters. The effect is most prominent for [[initial]]s, but even when initials are excluded, the remaining letters of both [[given name|given]] and [[surname|family names]] still tend to be preferred over non-name letters.

Most people [[self-esteem|like themselves]]; the name is associated with the [[psychology of self|self]], and hence the letters of the name are preferred, despite the fact that they appear in many other words. People who do not like themselves tend not to exhibit the name-letter effect. A similar effect has been found for numbers related to [[birthday]]s: people tend to prefer the number signifying the day of the month on which they were born. Alternative explanations for the name-letter effect, such as [[mere-exposure effect|frequent exposure]] and early mastery, have been ruled out. In [[Psychological evaluation|psychological assessments]], the Name Letter Preference Task is widely used to estimate [[implicit self-esteem]].

There is some evidence that the effect has implications for real-life decisions. In the lab, people disproportionately favor [[brand]]s matching their initials. An analysis of a large database of charity donations revealed that a disproportionately large number of people donate to [[disaster relief]] following [[hurricane]]s with names sharing their initial letter (e.g. Kate and Kevin following [[Hurricane Katrina]]). Studies that investigate the impact of name-letter matching on bigger life decisions (where to live, whom to marry, which occupation to take on) are controversial.

== Background ==
Systematic interest in the letter preference began in 1959 with [[brand preference|brand-preference]] studies by researchers Mecherikoff and Horton. These tried to find the relative appeal of [[letter (alphabet)|letter]]s for use in package labels.{{sfn|Mecherikoff|Horton|1959||p=114}} In an extension of the studies, [[Human subject research|subjects]] were asked to rank the [[English alphabet]] by the pleasantness of the appearance of [[letter case|capital letter]]s. While there was not a great deal of agreement amongst the subjects (the [[coefficient of concordance|coefficients of concordance]] were low),{{sfn|Horton|Mecherikoff|1960|p=253}} a strong [[positive correlation]] was found between a letter's average rank and how [[frequency of letters|frequently]] it occurred as an initial letter of family names.{{sfn|Alluisi|Adams|1962|pp=124–125}}

[[Robert Zajonc]], a [[social psychologist]], published research in 1968 into preferences between pairs of [[word]]s (e.g. "on" or "off"): in the overwhelming majority of trials the preferred word was also the most common.{{sfn|Zajonc|1968|pp=6–7}} Zajonc also tested preferences for [[nonsense word]]s and found that people liked them the more they heard them.{{sfn|Zajonc|1968|p=24}} He interpreted these results as evidence that [[mere exposure effect|mere repeated exposure]] to a [[stimulus (psychology)|stimulus]] is sufficient to enhance its attractiveness.{{sfn|Zajonc|1968|p=1}}

Around 1977, Belgian [[experimental psychologist]] [[Jozef Nuttin]] was driving on a highway looking at [[license plate]]s when he noticed that he preferred plates containing letters from his own name.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=230}} He wondered if people in general would prefer stimuli that are somehow connected to them; a "mere belongingness" as opposed to Zajonc's mere exposure.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=230}}{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=354}}

== First study ==
In his lab at the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven]], Nuttin [[Design of experiments|designed experiments]] to test the [[hypothesis]] that people place a higher value on letters that feature in their name.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=230}}{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=354}} It was crucial to the experimental design to rule out other factors, particularly mere exposure. If letters in a name are also letters that occur with higher frequency, then a preference for one's own letters might arise from the mere-exposure effect.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=354}}

=== Method ===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:15px; margin-down:0; font-size:10pt; line-height:11pt;text-align:center;"
|+First 11 stimuli for a yoke
|-
!colspan=2|Irma Maes
!colspan=2|Jef Jacobs
|-
|style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| A || U || A || U
|-
|style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| M || D || M || D
|-
| T ||style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| R || T || R
|-
|style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| I || G || I  || G
|-
| V ||style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| S || V || S
|-
|style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| E || N || E || N
|-
|style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| A || P || A || P
|-
| L ||style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| M || L || M
|-
| H || F || H ||style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| F
|-
| E || I ||style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| E || I
|-
| J || K ||style="background:silver; font-weight:bold;"| J || K
|}

To find an effect which ruled out mere exposure, Nuttin created a [[yoked control design]] in which two subjects evaluated the same letters separately. Some of the letters belonged to one subject's name, and some of the letters belonged to the other subject's name, while some were random. In this design, any difference in preference between subjects would have to be based on whether the letter occurred in their name.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|pp=354–355}}

For example, take the fictitious pair Irma Maes and Jef Jacobs as shown in the table. The first stimulus is ''A'' and ''U'': the last letter of Irma's first name and a letter not in her name. The next stimulus is ''M'' and ''D'': the penultimate letter from Irma's first name and a letter not part of her name. As can be seen in the table this is repeated for the remaining letters of Irma's first name. The letters of her last name then also appear in reverse order, and finally the letters of both of Jef's names. The shading in the table reveals the pattern hidden to subjects, who would have been told to circle their preferred letter of each pair as fast as possible without thinking.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|pp=354–356}}

In the first trial, 38 [[Flemish dialects|Dutch-speaking]] local [[primary school|elementary school]] girls circled the letters they preferred in two yoked lists of letter pairs. A significant preference for the letters of one's own name over those of the other person was found.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=356}} The second experiment used 98 Dutch-speaking local university students, to see if more years of reading made a difference. Four other factors were varied:  either pairs or triads of letters; encircling the preferred letter or crossing out the less preferred ones;  the letters ''QXYZ'', infrequent in Dutch, included or excluded; own-name letters presented first or last.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=356}} All conditions gave a name-letter effect, with a stronger effect when ''QXYZ'' were included and the less preferred letter was crossed out.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=357}} No [[significant difference]] was found using family name rather than first name or both names.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=358}} While the effect was strongest for initials, subsequent [[data analysis]] revealed a significant effect even without the first and last initials.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=358}}

=== Discussion ===
Nuttin concluded that the experiments showed that, independent of visual, [[psychoacoustics|acoustical]], [[applied aesthetics|aesthetic]], [[semantics|semantic]], and frequency characteristics, letters belonging to one's own first and family names are preferred above other letters.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=358}} He framed the effect in the context of [[narcissism]], [[Gestalt theory]] and [[awareness]], as reflected in the title of his 1985 article "Narcissism beyond Gestalt and awareness: the name letter effect", in which "beyond Gestalt" refers to the fact that subjects were not shown names, only letters in isolation, and "beyond awareness" to the fact that subjects did not realize that the letters of their own names were used.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|pp=358–359}} Nuttin claimed the effect he found was the first to go beyond Gestalt and awareness.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=359}}

== Second study ==
In 1987 Nuttin published his second study, describing experiments done in 1984 and 1985 with the help of Hilde Sas.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=381}}{{sfn|Sas|1986}} Because of the far-reaching implications of the name-letter effect for psychological theories, Nuttin found it wise to first test the effect's generality and robustness, before setting off on a research program aimed at understanding the underlying [[affect (psychology)|affective]] and [[cognitive psychology|cognitive]] processes at work. He wondered whether the effect would be found in all cultural and linguistic communities, or whether the first study revealed an effect due to some unknown idiosyncratic aspect of the Dutch language in Belgium.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=384}}

=== Method ===
Cross-lingual studies were performed at 13 European universities, using 12 different languages, viz. Dutch, [[English language|English]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Greek language|Greek]] (the only one with a non-[[Latin alphabet|Roman alphabet]]), [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. Because the original yoked design did not lend itself well to long-distance research and standardization, it was replaced by a simpler, easier to replicate experimental design. Subjects were asked to mark the six capital letters they liked most in a randomized list containing all letters of the local alphabet, again without giving it much thought. They had to mark their first preference with 1, their second with 2, etc. The new method was first applied in Belgium. When results showed the name-letter effect at work again, it was copied in the other countries. A total of 2,047 subjects participated, all students.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|pp=385–386}}

=== Discussion ===
Across languages and letters, the average probability of a letter being chosen as one of the six preferred letters was 0.30 for name letters and 0.20 for other letters. The strongest effects were observed in the Norwegian and Finnish studies. In the Hungarian, Portuguese, and Italian studies the effect was present but not to a significant degree.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=390}} The effect was also found when only looking at letters in family names, as well as only first name letters. The name-letter effect emerged as very significant in all languages when only initials were considered.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=391}} There was a probability of 0.46 that initial letters were chosen amongst the top-six letters. Further analysis revealed that the overall name-letter effect is not simply due to initials: when excluding initials a name-letter effect was still found across all languages.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=392}}

Nuttin analyzed the data to see if there was a national-letter effect, but failed to find one. Norwegians did not favor the letter N (for Norge) more than people from other countries did, neither did the Hungarians favor the letter M (for [[Magyarország]]). This led Nuttin to conclude that individual ownership has affective consequences that are not observed for collective ownership.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|pp=396–397}}

The data also allowed for an investigation into whether visual prominence is an important factor in the name-letter effect. Cars in Austria and Hungary have a sticker displaying their nationality with a capital letter that does not match the country's name in the local language (A and H respectively). This did not have any impact on people in those countries liking those letters relatively more.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=397}}

As in the first study, the second one also included a task relating to disliking letters. Subjects were asked to select the six letters they liked the least. As before, merely having a letter in one's own name significantly reduced the chances of disliking it.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|pp=397–398}} This task revealed an asymmetry in the letter preference hierarchy. While there was a large consensus within each of the 12 languages as to which letters were least preferred, there was not much consensus at all around the most preferred letters.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=398}}{{efn-ua|This asymmetry is similar to what Czapiński found when analyzing school-trip companion preferences: much consensus as to who were the three least preferred students, but little in who were the three most preferred.{{sfn|Czapiński|1980|p=203}}}}

== Reception ==
In the light of how surprising the finding was, Nuttin hesitated for seven years before finally going public with it. He first mentioned it at a conference of the [[European Association of Social Psychology|European Association of Experimental Social Psychology]] in 1984,{{sfn|Nuttin|1984}} followed by the 1985 and 1987 articles referred to above. His work was met with widespread skepticism, as he had expected.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=234}} Loosen, a researcher at Nuttin's own university, called the name-letter effect "so strange that a down-to-earth researcher will spontaneously think of an [[artifact (error)|artifact]]".{{sfn|Loosen|1990|p=11}}{{efn-ua|Loosen's critique stemmed from misinterpreting Nuttin's experimental design. Loosen thought that subjects in the yoked experiments were randomly selected to form a pair. However, this had not been the case. Nuttin had selected pairs based on minimal overlap of syllables in the subjects' names.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=234}}}} Other researchers did not explicitly say that the effect was [[spurious relationship|spurious]], but they doubted its psychological relevance.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=234}} In the first five years after publication (1985–1989), Nuttin's 1985 article was cited only once and the effect was studied at only one other university ([[Ohio State University]], where Johnson replicated the effect using American students).{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}}{{sfn|Johnson|1986}}{{efn-ua|Because the effect is most profound for initials, Johnson had christened the effect the ''initial-letter effect''. Nuttin did not agree with this [[reductionism]], saying there is no need to create the illusion of two phenomena where there is only one.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=396}}}}

This all changed in 1995, when Greenwald and Banaji pointed out that Nuttin's work was relevant to indirect measurement of self-esteem, which Nuttin himself had actually already suggested.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=234}}{{sfn|Greenwald|Banaji|1995|p=11}} After that the original study was cited 14 times in the five years between 1995 and 1999, 50 times between 2000 and 2004, 114 times between 2005 and 2009, and approximately 200 times between 2010 and 2014.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=234}} The name-letter effect is no longer disputed and Nuttin's work has been called "seminal" by Stieger, Voracek, and Formann in their 2012 meta-analysis of 44 publications on the effect.{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=63}} Their meta-analysis found no trace of [[publication bias]].{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|pp=66–67}}

== Characteristics ==
In her 2014 [[meta-analysis]] of dozens of name-letter effect studies, Hoorens called the effect robust.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}} She noted robustness in:

* Scope: The name-letter effect is stronger for initials than for non-initials, but generally still holds even when excluding initials from analysis.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}}{{efn-ua| Koole, Smeets, van Knippenberg, and Dijksterhuis found an effect only for initials, not for letters in other positions.{{sfn|Koole|Smeets|van Knippenberg|Dijksterhuis|1999|p=111}}}}
* Gender: All but two studies found the effect equally strong for women and men.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}}{{efn-ua|The exceptions are a study by Albers, Rotteveel, and Dijksterhuis, and one by Stieger, Preyss, and Voracek.{{sfn|Albers|Rotteveel|Dijksterhuis|2009|p=63}}{{sfn|Stieger|Preyss|Voracek|2012|p=51}}}}{{efn-ua|Gender-role orientation, the extent to which an individual adopts and displays traits, attitudes, and behaviors normatively identified as male-typical or female-typical, may also play a part in the name-letter effect.{{sfn|Stieger|Burger|Schiller|Schulze|2014|p=358}} It can be measured by the gender initial-preference task, which requires participants to rate letters for their gender typicality. Men have been shown to rate their initial letters as more male-typical, whereas women rate their initials as more female-typical.{{sfn|Stieger|Burger|Schiller|Schulze|2014}}}}
* Age: The effect has been found in people ranging from school children to university students, middle-aged and old-aged adults.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}}{{efn-ua|The only known exception is a study by Kernis, Lakey, and Heppner.{{sfn|Kernis|Lakey|Heppner|2008|p=477}}}}
* Culture: Although there are many differences between [[Eastern culture|Eastern]] and [[Western cultures]], including as to how often family names or initials are used, the effect seems to apply across cultures.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}} In their study with subjects from Thailand, where the [[Thai name|family name]] is rarely used, Hoorens, Nuttin, Herman and Pavakanun found a much stronger effect for first name than family name.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|Herman|Pavakanun|1990|p=204}} Kitayama and Karasawa found no special effect for [[Japanese name|initials in Japan]], where name initials are rarely used, but did find an overall name-letter effect.{{sfn|Kitayama|Karasawa|1997|p=740}}
* Language: 15 languages have been tested ([[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, [[Japanese language|Japanese]], Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, [[Thai language|Thai]]), covering four language families  ([[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], [[Indo-Uralic languages|Uralic]], [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]], [[Japonic]]) and five alphabets ([[Greek alphabet|Greek]], Roman, [[Cyrillic]], [[Devanagari]], [[Kana]]). In all cases a name-letter effect was found.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=235}}{{sfn|Kitayama|Karasawa|1997|p=740}}{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|Herman|Pavakanun|1990|p=184}}
* Time: In a study on preferences for initials, Stieger and LeBel found that people who had [[Maiden and married names|changed their name after marrying]] continued to show a preference for the initial of their abandoned birth name decades into their marriage. Also, subjects who had been married less than two years already showed a name-letter effect for their new last name initial.{{sfn|Stieger|LeBel|2012|p=10}}

== Explanations ==
Various explanations for the name-letter effect have been explored. Several explanations which seemed plausible at first have since been rejected.

=== Disproved causes ===

==== Mere exposure ====
People may simply like most what they see most. Letters that appear more frequently in everyday usage also occur more often in people's names. Forer, in 1940, and Alluisi and Adams, in 1962, found a positive correlation between the frequency of occurrence of letters and [[phoneme]]s and how attractive they were judged to be.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|1993|p=181}}{{sfn|Forer|1940|p=589}}{{sfn|Alluisi|Adams|1962|p=123}} Zajonc extended these studies, using foreign symbols and controlling the number of exposures. This led him to formulate the mere-exposure hypothesis: the more something is seen, the more it is liked.{{sfn|Zajonc|1980|p=151}} Nuttin's original study showed that mere exposure can not be the cause of the name-letter effect, as letters with equal frequency were evaluated differently by people who had the letter in their names and those who did not.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=359}}{{efn-ua|Nuttin made the assumption that for any given letter, total exposure has been roughly the same for each subject. That is, an adult's name is read or written infrequently compared to all other words.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=359}} Other researchers agreed; Greenwald and Banaji spoke of "reaching an asymptote".{{sfn|Kitayama|Karasawa|1997|p=740}}}} He also found that whereas the letter ''B'' is of low frequency in French and the letter ''Q'' of medium frequency, in experiments with French speakers the ''B'' was among the most highly liked letters and the ''Q'' was among the least liked. Similarly, in Polish the ''Y'' is a medium frequency letter, yet was still among the least preferred letters.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|p=399}} In each of the languages, the least frequent letters were over-represented in the set of least preferred letters, whereas the most preferred letters were rarely the highest frequency letters. The exposure counts in the lab studies done by Zajonc (20 to 25 times) were minuscule compared to real-life observation counts of any letter, which also caused Nuttin to cast doubt on whether Zajonc's theory could hold true in the real world.{{sfn|Nuttin|1987|pp=398–400}}

==== Subjective frequency ====
Subjective frequency is how frequently subjects {{em|think}} a stimulus appears. Name letters may be noticed more and, consequently, assumed to occur more frequently than other letters. Early research into the impact of exposure showed that differences in subjective frequency yielded different results even when the {{em|actual}} frequency was identical.{{sfn|Matlin|1971|p=295}} Hoorens and Nuttin tested whether subjective frequency could be an explanation for the name-letter effect by asking subjects to rank-order the entire alphabet twice, once according to their letter preference and once according to estimated letter frequency. Subjects indeed significantly overestimated the frequency of letters in their names, although there was no significant positive correlation between the overestimation of frequency and the name-letter effect.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|1993|p=177}} The researchers also asked subjects to rate how much they liked their own name. Subjects who liked their name had a stronger name-letter effect than those who did not like their name, but they did not overestimate the frequency of own-name letters more than subjects who did not like their names. Hoorens and Nuttin concluded that there is no support for the subjective frequency hypothesis.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|1993|p=177}}

==== Evaluative conditioning ====
[[Evaluative conditioning]] suggests that if the name is liked then the name letters will be liked too. This would occur through repeated visual association of the name letters with the name. Martin and Levey defined evaluative conditioning as a variation of [[classical conditioning]] in which we come to like or dislike something through an association.{{sfn|Martin|Levey|1987|p=69}} Given the observation that our own name stands out among others as quite an attractive stimulus, as Cherry found in the [[cocktail party effect]], it could be that the name-letter effect results from evaluative conditioning.{{sfn|Feys|1995|p=560}}{{sfn|Mack|Rock|1998|p=18}} Feys set up a controlled study with Flemish subjects, pairing unfamiliar symbols (Japanese [[kanji]]) with subjects' own names, and with other names. He found that there was no difference in how much subjects liked the kanji symbol representing their own name or other names. He concluded that evaluative conditioning is not the primary cause of the name-letter effect.{{sfn|Feys|1995|p=560}}

==== Subjective ownership ====
Subjective ownership would occur if subjects knowingly chose the letters from their own name. Nuttin ruled out a conscious response strategy in tests. Despite being given a monetary reward and unlimited time, none of the subjects of his original study were able to find a pattern in the stimulus lists, ruling out the possibility that they knew their own name-letters were there.{{sfn|Hoorens|1990|p=29}}

==== Mastery pleasure ====
The letters first learned by a child, commonly their own name,{{sfn|Treiman|Broderick|1998|p=112}} may come to have lasting positive associations.{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=366}} Hoorens and Todorova tested this by looking for a name-letter effect in bilingual subjects where their [[first language|mother tongue]] alphabet was Cyrillic and their foreign-language alphabet Roman.{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=365}} Because learning a foreign language at a later age does not typically involve extra attention given to name letters, there should be no name-letter effect in the foreign-language alphabet, only in the first-language alphabet.{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=366}} Results of a study with 100 Bulgarian subjects who at a later age learned English, German, French or Spanish revealed a name-letter effect for the Roman alphabet as well as for Cyrillic.{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=367}}{{efn-ua|The effect was not due to the two alphabets sharing letters. It was found for common letters with identical pronunciation (AEKMT), common letters with different pronunciation (BCFPYU), and Roman capitals not appearing in Cyrillic (DFGIJNRVWZ).{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=367}}}} The researchers concluded mastery pleasure is not the principal cause of the name-letter effect.{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=368}} In a follow-up study Hoorens, Nuttin, Herman and Pavakanun tested the strength of the name-letter effect among elementary-school children, in a cross-sectional experimental design involving Flemish and Hungarian second, fourth, and sixth graders. Instead of finding the name-effect to decrease with age as might be expected, they found it increased, thus proving that mastery pleasure is not the principal cause.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|Herman|Pavakanun|1990|p=190}}{{efn-ua|Other studies have since also found the effect to increase over age, for instance, Corenblum and Armstrong in their study of [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Native Canadian]] children.{{sfn|Corenblum|Armstrong|2012|p=130}}}} They also investigated name-letter effects in bilingual Thai subjects, some of whom had learned the English alphabet at the same time as the Thai alphabet, and others who had learned it later.{{efn-ua|Only Thai [[consonant]]s were presented as stimuli. Thai [[vowel]]s can not be used in isolation as their sound depends on their context.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|Herman|Pavakanun|1990|p=192}}}} They found that the time at which students had learned the second alphabet made no difference in the strength of the name-letter effect, thereby ruling out mastery pleasure as a co-determinant.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|Herman|Pavakanun|1990|pp=196–201}}

=== Probable cause ===
The effect is thought to arise from unconscious, automatic processes of self-evaluation, with different research groups coming at it from two different angles.{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=359}}{{sfn|Koole|2007|p=603}}

==== Mere ownership ====
Nuttin frames the cause in terms of ownership, which has roots in [[behavioral economics|economic psychology]]. The [[endowment effect]] has found that people ascribe more value to things merely because they own them.{{sfn|Kahneman|Knetsch|Thaler|1991|p=193}}{{sfn|Beggan|1992|p=229}} Nuttin puts the name-letter effect down to people automatically liking and valuing anything that is connected to them. As such, the name-letter effect is just one example of a more general [[mere ownership effect|mere-ownership effect]].{{sfn|Nuttin|1985|p=359}} In which case, various verifiable predictions follow.

* Most people should like their name. Those that do not should not like their name letters. Hoorens and Nuttin tested this and found that most people rated their name relatively highly. They also found that subjects who evaluated their own name relatively positively liked their name letters more than subjects who evaluated their own name negatively.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|1993|pp=177–200}}
* Bilinguals using two different alphabets should demonstrate a name-letter effect in both alphabets. A weaker effect should be found in the second alphabet, as names in second alphabets are likely to be less connected to the self. Hoorens and Todorova found that bilinguals with a tendency to like their name letters in Cyrillic also had a tendency to like their name letters in the Roman alphabet. The effect was found to be weaker in the second alphabet.{{sfn|Hoorens|Todorova|1988|p=367}} This was replicated in a Thai-English study by Hoorens, Nuttin, Herman and Pavakanun.{{sfn|Hoorens|Nuttin|Herman|Pavakanun|1990|pp=183–184}}
* Similar effects should be found for other attributes connected to the self, such as the numbers of one's birthday. Nickell, Pederson, and Rossow found that people like the numbers representing the month and year of their birth more. They also found that subjects liked the year of their graduation more.{{sfn|Nickell|Pederson|Rossow|2003|pp=161–163}} In a study of Japanese students, Kitayama and Karasawa found a strong [[birthday-number effect]] for the day of the month, especially for numbers higher than 12. The higher numbers may be more uniquely associated with birthdays, whereas lower numbers could be more saturated with other meanings.{{sfn|Kitayama|Karasawa|1997|p=740}}

==== Implicit self-esteem ====
Another group of researchers has framed the cause in terms of [[social psychology]], specifically the [[self-esteem]] theory. Beginning with [[Anthony Greenwald|Greenwald]] and Banaji in 1995, this group states that the name-letter effect results from [[implicit self-esteem]], a person's tendency to evaluate him or herself positively in a spontaneous, automatic, or unconscious manner.{{sfn|Greenwald|Banaji|1995|pp=4, 10–11}}{{sfn|Koole|2007|p=603}} Most people like themselves.{{sfn|Greenwald|Banaji|1995|p=10}} The halo effect of self-esteem spreads to any attributes associated with the self, including the name and its letters.{{sfn|Greenwald|Banaji|1995|pp=10–11}} As early as 1926 Syz discovered that a person's own name is special compared to others, eliciting physical responses measurable on the skin.{{sfn|Syz|1926|pp=119–126}} It is thought that when a person recognizes the letters in his or her name, that person experiences positive feelings of implicit self-esteem. These positive feelings induce subjects to unknowingly select the letters of their own name, producing the name-letter effect.{{sfn|Koole|Pelham|2003|p=108}}

* To be an automatic process, the effect should, for each specific person, be fairly stable over time. Koole, [[Ap Dijksterhuis|Dijksterhuis]] and Van Knippenberg investigated this by asking Dutch students to rate each letter of the alphabet, together with some filler questions for distraction, twice within a four-week period. They found that preferences for name letters did not significantly change between the first and second rating.{{sfn|Koole|Dijksterhuis|van Knippenberg|2001|pp=672–673}} Hoorens and colleagues also found that ratings remained stable when 164 subjects rated letters seven days in a row.{{sfn|Hoorens|Takano|Franck|Roberts|2015|p=910}}
* To be an automatic process, the effect should, like other automatic processes involving preferences, be influenced by deliberate thought. Multiple studies have shown that thinking about feelings inhibits automatic responding.{{sfn|Koole|Dijksterhuis|van Knippenberg|2001|p=673}}{{sfn|Wilson|Dunn|Kraft|Lisle|1989|p=330}} Koole, Dijksterhuis, and van Knippenberg had subjects give their preferences for letters and numbers 1 to 50. They made half of them explain their preferences. They found a name-letter effect and birthday-number effect in those subjects asked to answer without thinking, but no effects in those asked to think. This points to the effect being the result of an automatic process.{{sfn|Koole|Dijksterhuis|van Knippenberg|2001|pp=674–676}}
* Unconscious [[Emotional self-regulation|self-regulation]] has been found to increase under psychological threat. For the effect to be one of unconscious self-regulation it too should increase under threat. Jones, Pelham, Mirenberg, and Hetts found that when people who were high in explicit self-esteem were exposed to a psychological threat, they showed exaggerated name-letter preferences. In contrast, low self-esteem participants showed evidence of the opposite tendency.{{sfn|Jones|Pelham|Mirenberg|Hetts|2002|p=170}} Komori and Murata later replicated this response to threat with Japanese bilinguals who were asked to select preferred letters of the English alphabet.{{sfn|Komori|Murata|2008|p=109}}
* If the effect is an automatic process, then the subliminal use of name letters should influence other preferences. Wentura, Kulfanek, and Greve investigated this by the use of a [[priming (psychology)|priming]] technique. They showed subjects the first and last initials of their own name or of a yoked subject's name, too briefly to be noticed. This was immediately followed by words such as "honest" and "lonely". Subjects had to quickly identify the word they had seen as positive or negative. It was found that subjects categorized positive words more quickly if they were first primed with their own initials. There was no effect for negative words. The effects of initial-letter priming were especially strong for subjects with high levels of explicit self-esteem.{{sfn|Wentura|Kulfanek|Greve|2001|p=657}}{{sfn|Koole|Pelham|2003|pp=101–102}}
* If there is a halo effect spreading to anything connected to the self, then people in relationships should like the name letters of their partners more than other letters. LeBel and Campbell tested this and found a name-letter effect for initials of subjects' partners.{{sfn|LeBel|Campbell|2009|p=1293}} DeHart, Pelham, Fiedorowicz, Carvallo, and Gabriel concluded that the effect applies to parent-child, sibling and friendship relationships as well.{{sfn|DeHart|Pelham|Fiedorowicz|Carvallo|2011|p=127}}

== Application ==
In [[Psychological evaluation|psychological assessments]], the name-letter effect has been exploited to measure self-esteem.{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=64}} There are two types of self-esteem: explicit self-esteem (a person's deliberate and conscious evaluation of themselves) and implicit self-esteem.{{sfn|Greenwald|Banaji|1995|pp=4, 10–11}} Because by definition implicit self-esteem is not accessible to [[introspection]], measures of it do not rely on direct self-reports but on the degree to which objects associated with the self generate positive versus negative thoughts.{{sfn|Spalding|Hardin|1999|p=535}}{{sfn|Krizan|Suls|2008|p=522}}

The Letter Preference Task is the second-most popular method to measure implicit self-esteem, surpassed only by the [[Implicit-association test|Implicit Association Test]].{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=230}} The task has also been called the Name Letter Preference Task, Name-Letter-Ratings Measure, and Initial Preference Task.{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=63}}{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=233}} There is no standard method for applying the task. The most commonly used one is a letter rating task, which involves having participants judge all the letters of the alphabet. Even within this method there are variations in the instructions (how much you like the letters or how attractive you find them), in the [[Likert scale|rating scales]] (five-point, seven-point, or nine-point), in the order of the letters (random or alphabetical), and in data collection (paper-and-pencil or computer-based).{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=230}}

There is no standard [[algorithm]] for calculating implicit self-esteem. At least six algorithms are in use.{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=71}} In their meta-analysis of the name-letter effect, Stieger, Voracek, and Formann recommend using the [[ipsative|ipsatized]] double-correction algorithm (the so-called "I-algorithm"), as originally recommended and named by LeBel and Gawronski{{sfn|LeBel|Gawronski|2009|p=101}}).{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=71}} In her meta-analysis, Hoorens does not recommend a specific algorithm as little is known about how name-letter preference scores obtained from different algorithms relate to the most important psychometric quality of all, [[content validity|validity]].{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=244}} The algorithms are typically applied to initials only, but can be used for all name letters.{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=234}}

Stieger, Voracek, and Formann recommend that the task be administered twice, that the effects be calculated separately for first-name initial and last-name initial, that the task be accompanied with the birthday-number task, and that the instructions focus on liking rather than attractiveness.{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=76}} They suggest it may be useful to use not just initials but all name letters for measuring implicit self-esteem, something which Hoorens says is her most important recommendation.{{sfn|Stieger|Voracek|Formann|2012|p=76}}{{sfn|Hoorens|2014|p=248}} The Letter Preference Task has been used to measure implicit self-esteem in contexts as diverse as [[Major depressive disorder|depression]], [[physical health]], [[social acceptance]], [[unrealistic optimism]], feedback sensitivity, [[Emotional self-regulation|self-regulation]], and [[defensiveness]].{{sfn|LeBel|Gawronski|2009|p=86}}

== Wider implications ==
Researchers have looked for wider implications of the name-letter effect on preferences, both inside and outside the lab.

=== In the lab ===
In controlled studies in the lab, Hodson and Olson tried to find evidence of people liking everyday things (e.g. foods, animals) that matched their name initials. No evidence was found, neither for a between-subjects effect (e.g. Judy did not like things starting with J, such as jam, more than Doug liked things starting with J), nor for a within-individuals effect (e.g. Judy did not like jam more than honey).{{sfn|Hodson|Olson|2005|p=1099}}&nbsp;The researchers did discover a small but reliable effect of initials on brand-name preferences within individuals (e.g. Hank did like&nbsp;Honda&nbsp;more than non-matching brands).{{sfn|Hodson|Olson|2005|p=1108}}&nbsp;They speculated that brand names are more likely to communicate identity to others than other everyday things.{{sfn|Hodson|Olson|2005|p=1109}}&nbsp;Stieger extended this research by looking at buying preferences for product names. He found that people were disproportionately more likely to buy products matching their initials.{{sfn|Stieger|2010|p=1089}}&nbsp;The effect mainly occurred for big brands. No correlation was found between the strength of an individual's name-letter effect and the strength of his or her name-letter-branding effect.{{sfn|Stieger|2010|p=1095}}

Wiebenga and Fennis investigated whether the use of the&nbsp;[[personal pronoun]]s&nbsp;"I" and "my" in branding also had an effect on preferences, given the way these pronouns link to the self. They found that brand names with a generic self-referencing pronoun (e.g. [[iPhone]], [[Myspace]]) were evaluated more positively than non-self-referencing brand names (e.g.&nbsp;[[Xbox]]). The effect behaved like the name-letter effect: when the self was put under threat the effect became stronger, and it disappeared for people with negative self-evaluations.{{sfn|Wiebenga|Fennis|2012|p=733}}

A study by Polman, Pollmann, and Poehlman found that sharing initials with members in a group can increase the quality of group work. In a study of&nbsp;[[undergraduate]]&nbsp;students they found that groups sharing initials performed better than groups that did not. Groups that had a higher proportion of shared initials exceeded groups with a lower proportion of shared initials.{{sfn|Polman|Pollmann|Poehlman|2013}}

=== Outside the lab ===
==== Controversial studies ====
Researchers have looked for evidence of the driving force behind the name-letter effect outside the lab. A body of controversial research under the umbrella of&nbsp;[[implicit egotism]], starting with Pelham, Mirenberg, and Jones, has investigated whether people unknowingly make life decisions based on their name letters or name.{{sfn|Pelham|Mirenberg|Jones|2002|p=479}}{{sfn|Pelham|Carvallo|2015|p=692}}{{sfn|Jones|Pelham|Carvallo|Mirenberg|2004|p=665}} &nbsp;Sceptics say that a claim that name letters influence life decisions is [[Sagan standard|an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence]].{{sfn|Danesi|2012|p=84}}

Simonsohn urged researchers to look hard for [[confounding]] variables in field data analysis. An example of a confounding variable is baby-name popularity. This has fluctuated significantly over the decades. Simonsohn found that although Walter and Dennis are of near-identical popularity in a large sample of US first names of living people, Walter is a relatively old-fashioned name. He suggested that when Pelham et al. found a disproportionately high number of dentists whose name started with the letters "Den" compared to with "Wal", they had overlooked that people named Walter would tend to be old, and more likely to be retired. Baby-name fluctuation seemed a better explanation for disproportionately more "Den" dentists than "Wal" than implicit egotism.{{sfn|Simonsohn|2011a|p=22–23}}&nbsp;Using both a different [[data set]] ([[Twitter]]&nbsp;and&nbsp;[[Google+]]&nbsp;accounts) and a different statistical analysis, Kooti, Magno, and Weber found no evidence of people disproportionately having a job matching their name initials.{{sfn| Kooti|Magno|Weber|2014|p=216}}{{efn-ua|Overlooking a cohort confound was also the problem with controversial research that tied initials to death. Christenfeld, Phillips, and Glynn concluded that people who have positive [[monogram]]s (e.g. ACE or VIP) live significantly longer than those with negative initials (e.g. PIG or DIE). This conclusion was based on analysis of thousands of California death certificates between 1969 and 1995.{{sfn|Christenfeld|Phillips|Glynn|1999|p=241}} Morrison and Smith subsequently pointed out that this was an artefact of grouping data by age at death. Frequency of initials changing over time could be a confounding variable. When they grouped the same data by birth year, they found no statistically significant relationship between initials and longevity.{{sfn|Morrison|Smith|2005|p=820}} Similarly, Smith found statistical errors had led Abel and Kruger wrongly to conclude that [[Major League Baseball]] players whose names have positive initials live longer than players with negative initials.{{sfn|Smith|2011|p=211}}{{sfn|Abel|Kruger|2007|p=179}}}}

Dyjas, Grasman, Wetzels, van der Maas, and Wagenmakers criticized the method Pelham et al. used in their analysis of archives of deaths in 23 "Saint cities" in the US, such as&nbsp;[[St. Louis]]&nbsp;and&nbsp;[[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]]. Whereas Pelham et al. pooled all data together and concluded that people gravitate towards cities matching their first name (e.g. Louis or Paul), Dyjas et al. used&nbsp;[[Bayesian network|Bayesian hierarchical modelling]]&nbsp;to show that there are several cities where the opposite happens, people moving away from their name Saint city. They concluded that there is no evidence for an overall effect.{{sfn|Dyjas|Grasman|Wetzels|van der Maas|2012|pp=7–10}}&nbsp;A different set of cities containing 30 surnames, such as&nbsp;[[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]] and [[Johnson City, Tennessee|Johnson City]], did reveal a disproportionately large number of deceased people with city–surname matches.{{sfn|Dyjas|Grasman|Wetzels|van der Maas|2012|pp=8–9}} Dyjas et al. disputed that people gravitate towards cities of their surname, but instead cited Simonsohn's argument that many descendants of founders of these cities may never have moved away, a case of reverse causality.{{sfn|Dyjas|Grasman|Wetzels|van der Maas|2012|p=9}}{{sfn|Simonsohn|2011a|p=15}}

Simonsohn also raised the possibility of reverse causality in the case of Anseel and Duyck's analysis of a large data set consisting of Belgians' last names and the companies they work for. Anseel and Duyck concluded that people tend to choose to work for companies that match their initial.{{sfn|Anseel|Duyck|2008|p=1059}}&nbsp;But Simonsohn suspected that, like&nbsp;[[Walt Disney]] working for [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]], many people work for companies named after themselves or a family member. When he controlled for reverse causality in a large US data set, he could not see any evidence for people choosing to work for companies matching their initial.{{sfn|Simonsohn|2011b|p=1087}}

A few controversial studies have linked performance to initials. However, McCullough and Williams found no evidence of a name-letter effect for the letter 'K' in baseball players [[strikeout|striking out]] (shown on the scoreboard with a 'K'), despite an earlier study by Nelson and Simmons suggesting there was.{{sfn|McCullough|Williams |2010|p=881}}{{sfn|Nelson|Simmons|2007|p=1106}} Nelson and Simmons also found that students with first name initials C or D get lower [[Academic grading in the United States|grades]] than others with initials A or B.{{sfn|Nelson|Simmons|2007|p=1106}}&nbsp;Again, McCullough and Williams criticized the statistical analysis used and found no evidence to support such a relation.{{sfn|McCullough|Williams|2011|p=340}}

In response to Simonsohn's critical analyses of their earlier methods, Pelham and Carvallo published a new study in 2015, describing how they now controlled for gender, ethnicity, and education confounds. In one study they looked at census data and concluded that men disproportionately worked in eleven occupations that matched their surnames, for example, Baker, Carpenter, and Farmer, something the&nbsp;''[[New Scientist]]''&nbsp;has coined&nbsp;[[nominative determinism]].{{sfn|Pelham|Carvallo|2015|p=692}}{{sfn|Feedback|1994}} Voracek, Rieder, Stieger, and Swami investigated which way the arrow of causality points when it comes to names influencing choice of occupation. They reported that today's Smiths still tend to have the physical capabilities of their ancestors who were [[metalsmith|smiths]]. In the researchers' view a genetic-social hypothesis appeared more viable than the hypothesis of implicit egotism effects.{{sfn|Voracek|Rieder|Stieger|Swami|2015}}

==== Undisputed studies ====
[[File:Katrina 2005-08-28 1700Z.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Satellite image of a hurricane|upright|[[Hurricane Katrina]]: people with the initial K especially donated to the disaster relief.]]
Research by Chandler, Griffin, and Sorensen into a link between letter names and donations has been widely accepted. They analyzed the records of disaster relief donations after seven hurricanes (among others, [[Hurricane Katrina|Katrina]], [[Hurricane Rita|Rita]] and [[Hurricane Mitch|Mitch]]). They found that people who shared an initial with the hurricane were overrepresented as donors. They concluded that people want to overcome some of the negative feelings associated with the shared name and thus donate.{{sfn|Chandler|Griffin|Sorensen|2008|pp=404–410}}{{sfn|Simonsohn|2011a|pp=44–45}}&nbsp;Simonsohn suggested that implicit egotism only applies to cases where people are nearly indifferent between options, and therefore it would not apply to major decisions such as career choices, but would to low-stakes decisions such as choosing a charity.{{sfn|Simonsohn|2011a|p=46}}

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist-ua}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|2}}	
* {{cite journal |last1=Abel |first1=Ernest L. |last2=Kruger |first2=Michael L. |year=2007 |title=Symbolic significance of initials on longevity |journal=[[Perceptual and Motor Skills]] |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=179–182 |doi=10.2466/pms.104.1.179-182 |pmid=17450979 |s2cid=32400715 }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Albers |first1=L. |last2=Rotteveel |first2=M. |last3=Dijksterhuis |first3=A. |year=2009 |title=Towards optimizing the name letter test as a measure of implicit self-esteem |journal=Self and Identity |volume=8 |pages=63–77 |doi=10.1080/15298860802091062 |s2cid=145104484 |hdl=2066/77250 |hdl-access=free }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Alluisi |first1=E. A. |last2=Adams |first2=O. S. |year=1962 |title=Predicting letter preferences: Aesthetics and filtering in man |journal=Perceptual and Motor Skills |volume=14 |pages=123–131 |doi=10.2466/pms.1962.14.1.123 |s2cid=146381583 }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8557072 |title=Unconscious applicants: A systematic test of the name-letter effect |last1=Anseel |first1=Frederik |last2=Duyck |first2=W. |year=2008 |journal=[[Psychological Science]] |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02199.x |volume=19 |issue=10 |pages=1059–1061 |pmid=19000218 |s2cid=11868804 |access-date=December 10, 2019 |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828175846/https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8557072 |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}{{Limited access}}
* {{cite journal |title=On the social nature of nonsocial perception: The mere ownership effect |last=Beggan |first=James K. |year=1992 |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.62.2.229 |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=229–237 }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Chandler |first1=Jesse |last2=Griffin |first2=Tiffany M. |last3=Sorensen |first3=Nicholas |title=In the "I" of the storm: Shared initials increase disaster donations |journal=[[Society for Judgment and Decision Making|Judgment and Decision Making]] |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=404–410 |date=2008 |doi=10.1017/S1930297500000425 |s2cid=14633255 |url=http://journal.sjdm.org/8506/jdm8506.pdf }}{{open access}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Christenfeld |first1=N. |last2=Phillips |first2=D. P. |last3=Glynn |first3=L. M. |title=What's in a name: Mortality and the power of symbols |journal=[[Journal of Psychosomatic Research]] |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=241–254 |date=1999 |pmid=10576473 |doi=10.1016/S0022-3999(99)00035-5 }}{{limited access}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Corenblum |first1=B. |last2=Armstrong |first2=Helen D. |year=2012 |title=Racial-ethnic identity development in children in a racial-ethnic minority group |journal=[[Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science]] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=124–137 |doi=10.1037/a0027154 }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |last=Czapiński |first=Janusz |year=1980 |title=Positive–negative asymmetry on the group level |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236301410 |journal=Polish Psychological Bulletin |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=203–205 |via=ResearchGate }}
* {{cite book |last=Danesi |first=Marcel |title=Linguistic anthropology: A brief introduction |publisher=Canadian Scholars' Press |location=Toronto |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-55130-489-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To4nUhUt1mwC&q=Linguistic+anthropology%3A+A+brief+introduction }}
* {{cite journal |last1=DeHart |first1=Tracy |last2=Pelham |first2=Brett |last3=Fiedorowicz |first3=Luke |last4=Carvallo |first4=Mauricio |last5=Gabriel |first5=Shira |year=2011 |title=Including others in the implicit self: Implicit evaluation of significant others |journal=Self and Identity |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=127–135 |doi=10.1080/15298861003687880 |s2cid=144602581 |via=Google Books }}{{Limited access}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Dyjas |first1=Oliver |last2=Grasman |first2=Raoul P. P. P. |last3=Wetzels |first3=Ruud |last4=van der Maas |first4=Han L. J. |last5=Wagenmakers |first5=Eric-Jan |title=What's in a name: a Bayesian hierarchical analysis of the name–letter effect |year=2012 |volume=3 |page=334 |journal=[[Frontiers in Psychology]] |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00334|pmid=23055989 |pmc=3457077 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last=Feedback |title=Feedback |journal=[[New Scientist]] |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14419566-600-feedback/ |date=17 December 1994 |issue=1956 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918094953/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14419566-600-feedback/ |archive-date=18 September 2016 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Feys |first=J. |title=Mere ownership: Affective self-bias or evaluative conditioning? |year=1995 |journal=[[European Journal of Social Psychology]] |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=559–575 |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420250507 }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |last=Forer |first=B. R. |year=1940 |title=A study of consonant preferences |journal=[[Psychological Bulletin]] |volume=37 |issue=8 |page=589 |doi=10.1037/h0053393}}
* {{cite journal |title=Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes |last1=Greenwald |first1=A. G. |last2=Banaji |first2=M R. |year=1995 |journal=[[Psychological Review]] |doi=10.1037/0033-295x.102.1.4 |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=4–27 |pmid=7878162|citeseerx=10.1.1.411.2919 |s2cid=8194189 }}
* {{cite journal |title=Testing the generality of the name letter effect: Name initials and everyday attitudes |last1=Hodson |first1=G. |last2=Olson |first2=J. M. |journal=[[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin]] |doi=10.1177/0146167205274895 |pmid=6000270 |year=2005 |volume=6 |issue=8 |pages=33–37|s2cid=23154149 }}{{Subscription required}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Vera |last1=Hoorens |first2=Elka |last2=Todorova |journal=European Review of Social Psychology |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=365–368 |year=1988 |title=The name letter effect: Attachment to self or primacy of own name writing? |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420180406|url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/125885 |via=Limo |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last=Hoorens |first=Vera |year=1990 |title=Nuttin's affective selfparticles hypothesis and the name letter effect: A review |journal=[[Psychologica Belgica]] |volume=30 |issue=1–2 |pages=23–48 |doi=10.5334/pb.801 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240143209 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |first1=Vera |last1=Hoorens |first2=Jozef M. Jr. |last2=Nuttin |first3=I.E. |last3=Herman |first4=U. |last4=Pavakanun |journal=European Review of Social Psychology |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=181–205 |year=1990 |title=Mastery pleasure versus mere ownership: A quasi-experimental cross-cultural and cross-alphabetical test of the name letter effect |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420200302|url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/125788 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |first1=Vera |last1=Hoorens |first2=Jozef M. Jr. |last2=Nuttin |journal=[[Social Cognition (journal)|Social Cognition]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=177–200 |year=1993 |title=Overvaluation of own attributes: Mere ownership or subjective frequency? |doi=10.1521/soco.1993.11.2.177 |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/129262/1/HoorensNuttin1993.pdf}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hoorens |first=Vera |year=2014 |title=What's really in a name-letter effect? Name-letter preferences as indirect measures of self-esteem |journal=European Review of Social Psychology |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=228–262 |doi=10.1080/10463283.2014.980085 |s2cid=144292531 |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/465068 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hoorens |first1=V. |last2=Takano |first2=K. |last3=Franck |first3=E. |last4=Roberts |first4=J.E. |last5=Raes |first5=F. |journal=[[Psychological Assessment (journal)|Psychological Assessment]] |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=905–914 |year=2015 |title=Initial and noninitial name-letter preferences as obtained through repeated letter rating tasks continue to reflect (different aspects of) self-esteem |doi=10.1037/pas0000092|pmid=25730161 |hdl=10067/1268890151162165141 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Horton |first1=David L. |last2=Mecherikoff |first2=Michael |title=Letter preferences: Ranking the alphabet |year=1960 |journal=[[Journal of Applied Psychology]] |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=252–253 |doi=10.1037/h0045399 }}
* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=M. S. |year=1986 |title=The initial letter effect: ego-attachment or mere exposure? |publisher=The Ohio State University |location=Columbus |series=PhD dissertation }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=John T. |last2=Pelham |first2=Brett W. |last3=Mirenberg |first3=Matthew C. |last4=Hetts |first4=John J. |title=Name letter preferences are not merely mere exposure: Implicit egotism as self-regulation |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=170–177 |year=2002 |doi=10.1006/jesp.2001.1497}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=John T. |last2=Pelham |first2=Brett W. |last3=Carvallo |first3=Mauricio |last4=Mirenberg |first4=Matthew C. |year=2004 |title=How do I love thee? Let me count the Js: Implicit egotism and interperson attraction |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=87 |issue=5 |pages=665–683 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.665|citeseerx=10.1.1.468.9494 |pmid=15535778 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kahneman |first1=D. |last2=Knetsch |first2=J. L. |last3=Thaler |first3=R. H. |title=Anomalies: The endowment effect, loss aversion, and status quo bias |journal=[[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=193–206 |year=1991 |doi=10.1257/jep.5.1.193|doi-access= }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kernis |first1=M. H. |last2=Lakey |first2=C. E. |last3=Heppner |first3=W. L. |title=Secure versus fragile high self-esteem as a predictor of verbal defensiveness: Converging findings across three different markers |journal=Journal of Personality |pages=477–512 |year=2008 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00493.x |pmid=18447858 |volume=76|issue=3 |citeseerx=10.1.1.512.462 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kitayama |first1=Shinobu |last2=Karasawa |first2=Mayumi |title=Implicit self-esteem in Japan: Name letters and birthday numbers |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |pages=736–742 |year=1997 |doi=10.1177/0146167297237006 |volume=23|issue=7 |s2cid=143602622 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Komori |first1=Megumi |last2=Murata |first2=Koji |year=2008 |title=Implicit egotism in Japan: Preference for first and family name initials |journal=Hitotsubashi Journal of Social Studies |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=101–109 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Koole |first1=Sander L. |last2=Smeets |first2=Karianne |last4=Dijksterhuis |first4=Ap |last3=van Knippenberg |first3=Ad |title=The cessation of rumination through self-affirmation |year=1999 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=77 |issue=1 |pages=111–125 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.77.1.111 |hdl=2066/224349 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Koole |first1=Sander L. |last2=Dijksterhuis |first2=Ap |last3=van Knippenberg |first3=Ad |title=What's in a name: implicit self-esteem and the automatic self |year=2001 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=80 |issue=4 |pages=669–685 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.80.4.669|pmid=11316229 |hdl=1871/17530 |url=https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/292e36a4-7b64-4ab9-9919-e12ad5ef415c |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite book |first1=Sander L. |last1=Koole |first2=Brett W. |last2=Pelham |chapter=On the nature of implicit self-esteem: The case of the name letter effect |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJIKwXPZKg0C&pg=PA93 |editor1=Steven Spencer |editor2=Steven Fein |editor2-link=Steven Fein |editor3=Mark P. Zanna |editor4=James M. Olson |title=Motivated Social Perception |publisher=[[Lawrence Erlbaum]] |location=Mahwah, New Jersey |year=2003 |pages=93–116 |isbn=978-0-8058-4036-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Koole |first=Sander |editor-last1=Baumeister |editor-first1=Roy |editor-last2=Vohs |editor-first2=Kathleen |title=Encyclopedia of Social Psychology |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |chapter=Name letter effect |year=2007 |location=Thousand Oaks, California |isbn=978-1-4129-1670-7 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kooti |first1=Farshad |last2=Magno |first2=Gabriel |last3=Weber |first3=Ingmar |year=2014 |chapter=The social name-letter effect on online social networks |title=Social Informatics - Proceedings of SocInfo 2014, Barcelona, Spain, November 11-13, 2014 |isbn=978-3-319-13733-9 |pages=216–227 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-13734-6_15 |editor-last1=Aiello |editor-first1=Luca Maria |editor-last2=McFarland |editor-first2=Daniel |publisher=Springer International Publishing |location=Cham, Switzerland |citeseerx=10.1.1.763.4 |s2cid=10177951 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Krizan |first1=Zlatan |last2=Suls |first2=Jerry  |title=Are implicit and explicit measures of self-esteem related? A meta-analysis for the Name-Letter Test |year=2008 |journal=[[Personality and Individual Differences]] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=521–531 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2007.09.017 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=LeBel |first1=E. P. |last2=Campbell |first2=L. |year=2009 |title=Implicit partner affect, relationship satisfaction, and the prediction of romantic breakup |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=45 |issue=6 |pages=1291–1294 |doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2009.07.003 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=LeBel |first1=Etienne P. |last2=Gawronski |first2=Bertram |title=How to find what's in a name: Scrutinizing the optimality of five scoring algorithms for the name-letter task |year=2009 |journal=[[European Journal of Personality]] |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=85–106 |doi=10.1002/per.705|s2cid=53500983 }}
* {{cite book |last=Loosen |first=F. |year=1990 |title=The name letter effect: A fascinating idolum |location=Leuven |publisher=Peeters }}
* {{cite book |last1=Mack |first1=Arien |last2=Rock |first2=Irvin |year=1998 |title=Inattentional Blindness |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-262-13339-5 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=I. |last2=Levey |first2=A. B. |year=1987 |chapter=Learning what will happen next: Conditioning, evaluation, and cognitive processes |title=Cognitive processes and Pavlovian conditioning in humans |editor-last=Davey |editor-first=G. |pages=57–81 |location=Chichester, England |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]] |isbn=978-0-471-90791-6 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Matlin |first=Margaret W. |title=Response competition, recognition, and affect |year=1971 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |pmid= 5120020|doi=10.1037/h0031352 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=295–300}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McCullough |first1=B. D. |last2=Williams |first2=Thomas P. |year=2010 |title=Baseball players with the initial "K" do not strike out more often |journal=[[Journal of Applied Statistics]] |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=881–891 |doi=10.1080/02664760902889965 |bibcode=2010JApSt..37..881M |s2cid=20236883 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=McCullough |first1=B. D. |last2=Williams |first2=Thomas P. |year=2011 |title=Students with the initial "A" don't get better grades |journal=[[Journal of Research in Personality]] |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=340–343 |issn=0092-6566 |doi=10.1016/j.jrp.2011.03.006}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mecherikoff |first1=Michael |last2=Horton |first2=David L. |title=Preferences for letters of the alphabet |year=1959 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=114–116 |doi=10.1037/h0049029 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=Stilian |last2=Smith |first2=Gary |title=Monogrammatic determinism? |journal=[[Psychosomatic Medicine (journal)|Psychosomatic Medicine]] |volume=67 |issue=5 |pages=820–824 |year=2005 |doi=10.1097/01.psy.0000181283.51771.8a |pmid=16204444 |s2cid=31044960 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Lief |last2=Simmons |first2=Joseph P. |title=Moniker maladies: When names sabotage success |year=2007 |journal=Psychological Science |pmid=18031419|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02032.x |volume=18 |issue=12 |pages=1106–1112|s2cid=14274286 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Nickell |first1=Gary |last2=Pederson |first2=Katie |last3=Rossow |first3=Cassie |year=2003 |title=The birthdate effect: An extension of the mere ownership effect |journal=[[Psychological Reports]] |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=161–163 |doi=10.2466/PR0.92.1.161-163 |pmid=12674276 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Jozef M. Jr. |last=Nuttin |title=What's in a name? |journal=Opening Lecture of the 7th General Meeting of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology |year=1984 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Jozef M. Jr. |last=Nuttin |title=Narcissism beyond Gestalt and awareness: the name letter effect |journal=European Journal of Social Psychology |issue=3 |volume=15 |pages=353–361 |year=1985 |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420150309}}
* {{cite journal |first=Jozef M. Jr. |last=Nuttin |title=Affective consequences of mere ownership: The name letter effect in twelve European languages |journal=European Journal of Social Psychology |issue=4 |volume=17 |pages=381–402 |year=1987 |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420170402 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Pelham |first1=B. |last2=Mirenberg |first2=Matthew C. |last3=Jones |first3=John T. |title=Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=469–487 |year=2002 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.469 |pmid=11999918 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Pelham |first1=Brett |last2=Carvallo |first2=Mauricio |title=When Tex and Tess Carpenter build houses in Texas: Moderators of implicit egotism |journal=Self and Identity |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=692–723 |year=2015 |doi=10.1080/15298868.2015.1070745 |s2cid=145572523 }}
* {{cite journal |title=The name-letter-effect in groups: Sharing initials with group members increases the quality of group work |last1=Polman |last2=Pollmann |last3=Poehlman |first1=Evan |first2=Monique M. H. |first3=T. Andrew |year=2013 |volume=8 |issue=11 |journal=[[PLOS ONE|PLoS ONE]] |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0079039 |pmid= 24236087 |pages=e79039 |pmc=3827308|bibcode=2013PLoSO...879039P |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Sas |first=Hilde |year=1986 |title=Generality of Nuttin's name letter effect and asymmetrical letter choice effect: Some preliminary results of a cross-sectional and cross-lingual study |publisher=Laboratorium voor Experimentele Sociale Psychology, K.U. Leuven |location=Leuven, Belgium }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Simonsohn |first1=Uri |title=Spurious? Name similarity effects (implicit egotism) in marriage, job, and moving decisions |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=1–24 |year=2011a |doi=10.1037/a0021990 |pmid=21299311 |s2cid=207744109 |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=oid_papers }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Simonsohn |first1=Uri |title=Spurious also? Name-similarity effects (implicit egotism) in employment decisions |journal=Psychological Science |volume=22 |issue=8 |pages=1087–1089 |year=2011b |doi=10.1177/0956797611413937 |pmid=21705520 |s2cid=9821222 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Gary |year=2011 |title=Another look at baseball player initials and longevity |journal=Perceptual and Motor Skills |volume=112 |issue=1 |pages=211–216 |doi=10.2466/05.PMS.112.1.211-216 |pmid=21466094 |s2cid=37168549 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Spalding |first1=Leah R. |last2=Hardin | first2=Curtis D. |year=1999 |title=Unconscious unease and self-handicapping: Behavioral consequences of individual differences in implicit and explicit self-esteem |journal=Psychological Science |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=535–539 |doi=10.1111/1467-9280.00202|s2cid=146547054 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stieger |first1=Stefan |title=Name-letter branding under scrutiny: Real products, new algorithms, and the probability of buying |journal=Perceptual and Motor Skills |volume=110 |issue=3, Pt 2 |pages=1089–1097 |year=2010 |doi=10.2466/01.07.PMS.110.C.1089-1097 |pmid=20865997 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stieger |first1=S. |last2=LeBel |first2=E. |title=Name–letter preferences for new last name and abandoned birth name initials in the context of name-change via marriage |journal=Social Psychology |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=7–13 |year=2012 |doi=10.1027/1864-9335/a000075 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stieger |first1=S. |last2=Voracek |first2=M. |last3=Formann |first3=A.K. |title=How to administer the Initial Preference Task |journal=European Journal of Personality |volume=26 |pages=63–78 |year=2012 |doi=10.1002/per.823 |s2cid=144719071 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stieger |first1=S. |last2=Preyss |first2=A.V. |last3=Voracek |first3=M. |title=Romantic jealousy and implicit and explicit self-esteem |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |volume=52 |pages=51–55 |year=2012 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2011.08.028 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stieger |first1=S. |last2=Burger |first2=C. |last3=Schiller |first3=F.R. |last4=Schulze |first4=E.K. |last5=Voracek |first5=M. |title=Measuring implicit gender-role orientation: The Gender Initial Preference Task |journal=[[Journal of Personality Assessment]] |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=358–367 |year=2014 |doi=10.1080/00223891.2013.825622 |pmid=23980799 |s2cid=10514559 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Syz |first1=Hans C. |title=Observations on the unreliability of subjective reports of emotional reactions |journal=[[British Journal of Psychology]] |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=119–126 |doi=10.1111/j.2044-8295.1926.tb00415.x |year=1926 |issn=0007-1269 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Treiman |first1=Rebecca |last2=Broderick |first2=Victor |title=What's in a name: Children's knowledge about the letters in their own name |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Child Psychology]] |volume=70 |issue=2 |year=1998 |pages=97–116 |doi=10.1006/jecp.1998.2448 |pmid=9729451 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Voracek |first1=Martin |last2=Rieder |first2=Stephan |last3=Stieger |first3=Stefan |last4=Swami |first4=Viren |title=What's in a surname? Physique, aptitude, and sports type comparisons between Tailors and Smiths |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=7 |pages=699–702 |year=2015 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0131795 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1031795V |pmid=26161803 |pmc=4498760|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wentura |first1=Dirk |last2=Kulfanek |first2=Michael |last3=Greve |first3=Werner |year=2001 |title=Masked affective priming by name letters: Evidence for a correspondence of explicit and implicit self-esteem |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=41 |issue=6 |pages=657–663 |doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2004.02.005}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wiebenga |first1=Jacob H. |last2=Fennis |first2=Bob M. |year=2012 |chapter=Me, myself, and Ikea: Qualifying the role of implicit egotism in brand judgment |editor-last1=Gürhan-Canli |editor-first1=Zeynep |editor-last2=Otnes |editor-first2=Cele |editor-last3=Zhu |editor-first3=Rui |title=NA - Advances in Consumer Research |series=40 |pages=733–734 |location=Duluth, Minnesota |publisher=Association for Consumer Research |chapter-url=http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v40/acr_v40_11806.pdf |isbn=978-0-915552-70-2 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=T. D. |last2=Dunn |first2=D. S. |last3=Kraft |first3=D. |last4=Lisle |first4=D. J. |year=1989 |chapter=Introspection, attitude change, and attitude-behavior consistency: The disruptive effects of explaining why we feel the way we do |editor-last=Berkowitz |editor-first=L. |title=Advances in experimental social psychology |url=https://archive.org/details/advancesexperime22berk |url-access=registration |series=22 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/advancesexperime22berk/page/n297 287]–343 |location=Orlando, Florida |publisher=[[Academic Press]] }}
* {{cite journal |last=Zajonc |first=Robert B. |year=1968 |title=Attitudinal effects of mere exposure |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=9 |issue=2, Pt.2 |pages=1–27 |doi=10.1037/h0025848 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Zajonc |first=Robert B. |year=1980 |title=Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences |journal=[[American Psychologist]] |volume=35 |issue=2, Pt.2 |pages=151–175 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.35.2.151 |url=https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/77993 }}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Name Letter Effect}}
[[Category:Cognitive biases]]
[[Category:Human names]]
[[Category:Alphabets]]
[[Category:1985 in science]]