Prejudice in person memory: Self‐threat biases memories of stigmatized group members |
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Authors: | Gennaro Pica Jocelyn J Bélanger Giuseppe Pantaleo Antonio Pierro Arie W Kruglanski |
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Institution: | 1. University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy;2. Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada;3. UniSR Social.Lab, Vita‐Salute San Raffaele University of Milan, Milan, Italy;4. University of Maryland‐College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA |
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Abstract: | The present research investigated whether self‐threat biases memory via retrieval‐induced forgetting. Results show that people under self‐threat whose goal is to restore their self‐worth by making prejudicial judgments that deprecate others are more likely to exhibit an enhanced RIF effect for positive items and a reduced RIF for negative items ascribed to a stereotyped target (i.e., homosexual). Overall, the present findings are consistent with the view that motivation can affect the magnitude of RIF effects in person memory and that, in turn, they can serve as mechanisms for justifying desired conclusions. |
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Keywords: | prejudice self‐threat motivated cognition person memory |
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