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Abstract
Recent theory suggests that face recognition accuracy is affected by people’s motivations, with people being particularly motivated to remember ingroup versus outgroup faces. In the current research we suggest that those higher in interdependence should have a greater motivation to remember ingroup faces, but this should depend on how ingroups are defined. To examine this possibility, we used a joint individual difference and cultural approach to test (a) whether individual differences in interdependence would predict face recognition accuracy, and (b) whether this effect would be moderated by culture. In Study 1 European Canadians higher in interdependence demonstrated greater recognition for same-race (White), but not cross-race (East Asian) faces. In Study 2 we found that culture moderated this effect. Interdependence again predicted greater recognition for same-race (White), but not cross-race (East Asian) faces among European Canadians; however, interdependence predicted worse recognition for both same-race (East Asian) and cross-race (White) faces among first-generation East Asians. The results provide insight into the role of motivation in face perception as well as cultural differences in the conception of ingroups.
Highlights
Humans are social beings who are motivated to form interpersonal relationships, maintain these relationships, and be included in social groups (Guisinger and Blatt, 1994; Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Brewer and Caporael, 2006)
Due to differences in the conceptualization of what constitutes an ingroup between European North Americans and East Asians (Brewer and Yuki, 2007), we propose that the relationship between interdependence and novel same-race face recognition might depend on one’s cultural background
Building on recent research that has examined the role of social motivation in face processing, in the present research we examined whether individual differences in the self-reported value that people place on social connections with others in their ingroups is predictive of memory for novel faces
Summary
Humans are social beings who are motivated to form interpersonal relationships, maintain these relationships, and be included in social groups (Guisinger and Blatt, 1994; Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Brewer and Caporael, 2006). In order to engage successfully in social interactions and to coordinate activities with other group members, accurate face recognition is a basic and important requirement (Yardley et al, 2008). What motivates one perceiver to individuate another may depend on both the individual and the larger cultural context. Building on this possibility, the main goal of the current research was to investigate whether people’s memory for novel faces could be predicted by their chronic motivations to make social connections using a culture × individual difference approach.
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