Self-prioritization depends on assumed task-relevance of self-association

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Cognition
• Neuroscience

Background:

• The self-prioritization effect (SPE) demonstrates a bias towards self-related information.
• Previous research often assumes direct, established self-associations for SPE.
• The role of perceived task-relevance in SPE remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether the SPE can emerge even without established self-associations.
• To examine the influence of assumed task-relevance of self-associations on SPE.
• To differentiate between the effects of pre-existing self-associations and instructed task-relevance.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments utilized a pseudo-word matching task, replacing familiar labels with novel pseudo-words.
• Participants received varied learning instructions to manipulate the perceived task-relevance of pseudo-word-identity associations.
• The presence or absence of SPE was assessed in the pseudo-word task under different relevance conditions.

Main Results:

• Experiment 1: SPE observed when pseudo-word meanings were instructed as task-relevant to identities (self, friend, none).
• Experiment 2: SPE absent when pseudo-word associations were explicitly instructed as task-irrelevant to identities.
• Experiment 3: SPE reappeared when pseudo-word-identity relations were presented as weakly task-relevant.

Conclusions:

• SPE can manifest without stimuli possessing inherent self-associations.
• The perceived task-relevance of self-associations is a critical factor in eliciting SPE.
• Cognitive processes underlying SPE are sensitive to instructional cues regarding information relevance.