Social Identity Modulates Belief Change in Adolescents: Evidence From a Dyadic Retrieval Practice Paradigm

In everyday family and school contexts, adolescents frequently experience belief changes that profoundly shape their subsequent behaviors. However, the mechanisms underlying such belief change remain insufficiently understood, particularly among adolescents at an important stage of cognitive and social development.

This study examined how adolescents' belief change was influenced by social identity (in-group vs. out-group) and item type (Rp+, Rp-, Nrp), with measures of recall rates and belief change. Fifty-four high school students (26 females, 28 males; M_age = 15.68, SD = 0.84; range = 14-17 years) from a high school in China participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to in-group or out-group conditions using a minimal group paradigm. Across the learning, retrieval, recall, and re-judgment phases-designed to simulate authentic information transmission-we assessed memory and belief change in adolescents. All procedures were reviewed and approved by the local institutional ethics committee.

When speakers were members of the listeners' in-group, adolescents exhibited significant retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) and belief inhibition effects. These effects were not observed when the speakers belonged to the out-group.

These findings indicate that adolescents' belief change is modulated by the social identity of the information source. The study deepens understanding of belief formation and socialization during adolescence and provides practical implications for educational approaches, such as group-based error correction.