Wl. Gardner et al., Social exclusion and selective memory: How the need to belong influences memory for social events, PERS SOC PS, 26(4), 2000, pp. 486-496
The need to belong has been forwarded as a pervasive human motive, influenc
ing a range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses. The current
research explored the influence of belongingness needs on the selective ret
ention of social information. Just as physical hunger results in selective
memory for food-relevant stimuli, it was hypothesized that social hunger, a
roused when belongingness needs were unmet, would result in selective memor
y for socially relevant stimuli. In two studies, the authors used a simulat
ed computer chat room to present brief acceptance err rejection experiences
to participants. Participants then read a diary containing both social and
individual events. In both, rejection experiences resulted in selective me
mory for the explicitly social events of the diary. The implications of the
se results for the existence and consequences of a basic need to belong an
discussed.