Memory for cultural information about Russia and the United States - Effects of nationality and mood

This study examines the processing of information about culture by Russians and Americans. The participants were induced into either a positive or a n egative mood; read identical favorable, unfavorable, and neutral informatio n about Russia or the United States; and completed a recognition task conta ining both statements they had read and statements they had not read. There was evidence of a bias toward greater recognition of unfavorable cultural information, particularly for Americans. In addition, Russians and American s recognized different types of information, with Americans more likely to accurately recognize information that had been presented, and Russians some what more likely to recognize information that had not actually been presen ted. Finally, for anxiety a mood-incongruent effect was found for favorable cultural information. Implications of these findings for cross-cultural in teractions and research needed to understand the effects of anxiety on memo ry are discussed.