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-knowl edge. This implies that perceivers process information about novel in-group s on the basis of the self-congruency of this information and not simply it s valence. In Experiment 1. participants recalled more negative self-discre pant behaviors about an in-group than about an our-group. Experiment 2 repl icated this effect under low cognitive load but not under high load. Experi ment 3 replicated the effect using an idiographic procedure. These findings suggest that perceivers engage in elaborative inconsistency processing whe n 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-gro up than to the out-group, regardless of information valence. Implications f or models of social memory and self-categorization theory are discussed.