ReportThinking about the self influences thinking in general: cognitive consequences of salient self-concept
Section snippets
Independent and interdependent self-knowledge: content and process
However, current social psychological models of the self-concept posit that the self is fundamentally not just a repository of self-knowledge (Oyserman, 2001). Rather, it is both a set of content—autobiographic memories and semantic information, and a cognitive structure with executive functions that organize information processing (Kühnen, Hannover, & Schubert, 2001; Markus & Wurf, 1987; Oyserman & Markus, 1993). If this argument is true then researchers should be able to see the impact of
Experiment 1
Experiment 1 conceptually replicates previous findings using: (a) different materials, (b) a different dependent measure-speed of (accurate) processing rather than number of correct responses, and (c) a within subjects design in which participants responded to two different cognitive tasks, one requiring context-independent thinking and the other requiring context-dependent thinking.
Experiment 2
Experiment 1 gave evidence for the assumption that self-construal priming affects the degree of context-dependency in perceptual processes. Experiment 2 was conducted to extend this research into the field of memory processes. In particular, we assumed that if interdependent self-knowledge fosters perceptual processing of objects as related to contexts then memory for incidentally encoded contextual information should improve if interdependent (rather then independent) self-knowledge is
General discussion
A growing literature suggests chronic cultural differences in cognitive processing—contrasting European American with Chinese or Korean participants to show that these East Asian participants are more likely to process information in terms of the whole or context within which it is presented (e.g., Morris, Nisbett, & Peng, 1995). Building on a broad social-psychological research base showing that the `on-line' or `working' self-concept is easily manipulated by subtle priming manipulations (for
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant Ku 1305/1-1 to Kühnen) and the W.T. Grant Foundation (Faculty Scholar Award to Oyserman). I am grateful to the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences for support during the writing process (Oyserman).
References (34)
Forest before trees: the precedence of global features in visual perception
Cognitive Psychology
(1977)The duality of human existence
(1966)- et al.
Automaticity of social behavior: direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(1996) The self
- et al.
Feature memory and binding in young and older adults
Memory and Cognition
(1996) - et al.
Situational salience and cultural differences in the correspondence bias and the actor-observer bias
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
(1998) - Coon, H., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2001). Cultural orientations in the United States: (Re)-examining differences among...
- et al.
Models of the self: self-construals and gender
Psychological Bulletin
(1997) - et al.
Links between race/ethnicity and cultural values as mediated by racial/ethnic identity and moderated by gender
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(1997) - et al.
“I” value freedom but “we” value relationships: self-construal priming mirrors cultural differences in judgment
Psychological Science
(1999)
Das dynamische Selbst. Zur Kontextabhängigkeit selbstbezogenen Wissens
Cultural variation in unrealistic optimism: does the West feel more vulnerable than the East?
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Category accessibility and impression formation
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Gendered influence of downward social comparisons on current and possible selves
Journal of Social Issues
Self-construals and consequences of upward social comparison: the ups and downs of thinking about a successful other
European Journal of Social Psychology
Verzerrungen bei direkten und indirekten selbstbezogenen Ähnlichkeitsurteilen als Konsequenz hoch zugänglichen Selbstwissens
Assimilation and contrast in social comparisons as a consequence of self-construal activation
European Journal of Social Psychology
Cited by (299)
Talking to a bot or a wall? How chatbots vs. human agents affect anticipated communication quality
2023, Computers in Human BehaviorConsumers’ response to CSR statement type in social crowding
2024, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and LogisticsCulture, Social Class and the Dynamics of the Self
2024, Kolner Zeitschrift fur Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie