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Children's subjective identification with social groups: A group‐reference effect approach
Author(s) -
Bennett Mark,
Sani Fabio
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1348/026151007x246268
Subject(s) - psychology , recall , developmental psychology , group (periodic table) , identification (biology) , social psychology , encoding (memory) , self concept , identity (music) , cognitive psychology , chemistry , botany , organic chemistry , biology , physics , acoustics
A study is reported that seeks to examine 5‐, 7‐, and 10‐year‐old children's internalization of in‐groups within the self‐concept. Methodologically, the study draws upon the self‐reference effect, extending it to the group‐level identity. In particular, it was found that participants' encoding of information with reference to in‐groups (family, age, gender) facilitated recall to the same degree as when information had been encoded with reference to the personal self. Both self‐ and group‐reference encoding were associated with higher levels of recall than were control conditions. These findings suggest that group memberships are integral parts of children's self‐concepts.