Identity salience moderates processing of group-relevant information

Angela T. Maitner, Diane M. Mackie, Heather M. Claypool, Richard J. Crisp

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

When an individual is categorized as a member of a group, the individual's social identity becomes his or her frame for perceiving the world. This research investigates how information can be perceived and processed differently when relevant social identities are salient. In two studies, participants' individual, student, or American identities were made salient before they read strong or weak arguments in favor of the institution of comprehensive exams at their university in 10 years time. In both studies, student-salient participants analytically processed the message whereas self-salient (Study 1) and American-salient (Study 2) participants failed to agree differentially with strong and weak messages. These data suggest that social-identity salience changes the information that individuals consider relevant, providing clear support for the contention that social identities have a profound impact on the way individuals perceive and interact with the world around them.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)441-444
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume46
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2010

Keywords

  • Information processing
  • Social identity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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