Self-relevance and goal-directed processing in the recall and weighting of information about others

Abstract

The purpose of these studies is twofold: (1) to ascertain whether schemarelevant information about others is recalled better and is accorded greater weight by schematics than by aschematics, and (2) to determine whether perceivers' self-schemas and processing goals during person perception have independent or interactive effects. Experiment 1 presented subjects with either a global or a specific goal. A description of the target contained both information relevant to some of the subjects' self-schemas and information relevant to the specific goal. Schematics better recalled schematic information than did aschematics only in the global goal (impression formation) condition. Subjects in the specific goal conditions best recalled goal-relevant information. In Experiment 2, subjects made either a global or a specific judgment. Target information was self-relevant for half the subjects. The degree to which subjects weighted each type of stimulus information in their judgments was ascertained using a policy capturing paradigm. Schematics weighted schema-relevant information more heavily than did aschematics in both goal conditions. In addition, schematics weighted a trait highly associated to the schematic trait more heavily than did aschematics. The influence of perceivers' goals on the self-schematic processing of information about other persons is discussed.