Abstract
Few studies have examined the effect of intergroup threat on cognitive outcomes such as memory. Different theoretical perspectives can inform how intergroup threat should affect memory for threat-relevant and neutral information, such as the mood-congruency approach, Yerkes–Dodson law, Easterbrook’s theory, and also evolutionary perspectives. To test among these, we conducted two experiments to examine how exposure to intergroup threats affected memory compared to control conditions. In study 1, we manipulated symbolic threat and examined participants’ memory for threat and neutral words. In study 2, memory performance was assessed following the induction of realistic threat. Across the studies, in the control condition participants showed better memory for threat-related than neutral information. However, participants under threat remembered neutral information as well as threat-related information. In addition, participants in the threat condition remembered threat-related information as well as participants in the control condition. The findings are discussed in terms of automatic vigilance processes but also the effects of threat on arousal and its effect on information processing. This latter perspective, suggests paradoxically, that under some circumstances involving an outgroup threat, non-threatening information about outgroups can be extensively processed.
Highlights
The present studies build upon this research foundation
This literature would argue that intergroup threat should lead to better recall for negative information such as threat-related information, than for positive or neutral information—an effect that should not occur for people who are not threatened
Because we regarded the threat we presented as being moderate in intensity and because it can be classified as affectively negative, the mood-congruency approach, Yerkes–Dodson law, and Easterbrook’s theory that arousal narrows the focus of attention would suggest that there should be better memory for threat-related than neutral information after people have experienced an intergroup threat than when they have not
Summary
The present studies build upon this research foundation. Instead of focusing on the role of general threats of self-protection, for example, which could be induced by various circumstances, we focus on how threats that emanate from the outgroup influence basic information processing, that is, memory for information about the outgroup.When people feel that their group is being threatened by another group, what effects does this have on memory? This question is important because it reflects what information is the focus of attention during intergroup interactions, and what information ingroup members store and use in judgments and decisions after having experienced a threatening intergroup event.There are a variety of research traditions that are relevant to formulating hypotheses about the effects of intergroup threat on memory. This literature would argue that intergroup threat should lead to better recall for negative information such as threat-related information, than for positive or neutral information—an effect that should not occur for people who are not threatened. The authors of one study that found incongruency effects (better recall of positive information about the outgroup) suggest that at least in their research, the experience that was induced in participants could have resulted in modest levels of anxiety (Abalakina-Paap et al, 2001). Perhaps modest levels of anxiety, which facilitate communication with outgroups, can facilitate memory for information from intergroup contexts (Abalakina-Paap et al, 2001)
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