Memory for in-group and out-group information in a minimal group context: the self as an informational base.
The authors argue that persons derive in-group expectancies from self-knowledge. This implies that perceivers process information about novel in-groups on the basis of the self-congruency of this information and not simply its valence. In Experiment 1, participants recalled more negative self-discrepant behaviors about an in-group than about an out-group. Experiment 2 replicated this effect under low cognitive load but not under high load. Experiment 3 replicated the effect using an idiographic procedure. These findings suggest that perceivers engage in elaborative inconsistency processing when they encounter negative self-discrepant information about an in-group but not when they encounter negative self-congruent information. Participants were also more likely to attribute self-congruent information to the in-group than to the out-group, regardless of information valence. Implications for models of social memory and self-categorization theory are discussed.
Gramzow
R H
RH
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, England. gramzow@soton.ac.uk
Gaertner
L
L
Sedikides
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009657:North Carolina; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D012938:Social Perception