Strength of social episodic memory influences subsequent social decisions

Many social factors influence decisions to approach or avoid social targets, but less research has directly investigated the impact of cognitive factors, such as memory, on such social decisions. Recent work has shown that social episodic memory (i.e., memory for specific details associated with specific social targets based on prior experiences) can influence subsequent approach/avoidance decisions. The goal of the current study is to investigate the influence of social episodic memory strength (i.e., comparing stronger versus weaker memory representations) on approach/avoidance decisions. In this investigation, participants viewed social targets represented by a face image and a trait-implying behaviour and formed positive or negative impressions of targets viewed twice (double presentation) or once (single presentation). Participants then completed two different memory measures (impression memory, behavior memory) followed by an approach/avoidance decision task. By presenting some targets twice and others once, this allowed us to compare stronger (double presentation) versus weaker (single presentation) social episodic memory representations on subsequent social decisions. Results showed support for the role of memory in approach/avoidance decisions (regardless of memory strength), where correct memory for targets associated with positive impressions induced approach decisions, whereas correct memory for targets associated with negative impressions induced avoidance decisions. Importantly, results further showed stronger impact of social episodic memory on decisions for targets seen twice relative to once, suggesting that stronger social episodic memory representations have a larger effect on approach/avoidance judgments. These findings add to a growing body of work suggesting that memory plays an essential role in social decision-making.