Identity salience moderates processing of group-relevant information

When an individual is categorized as a member Of a group, the individual's Social identity becomes its or her frame lot perceiving the world This research investigates how Information can be perceived and processed differently when relevant social identities are salient In two Studies, participants' individual, Student, or American identities were made salient before they read strong or weak arguments in favor of the institution of comprehensive exams at their university in 10 years time In both studies, student-salient participants analytically processed the message whereas self-salient (Study I) and American-salient (Study 2) participants failed to agree differentially with strong and weak messages These data Suggest that social-identity salience changes the Information that individuals consider relevant, providing clear support for the concentration lie contention that social identities have a profound impact on the way individuals perceive and interact with the world around them (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved