Differential Processing of In-Group and Out-Group Information

People have a more differentiated cognitive representation of in-groups than of out-groups. This has led to the prediction that memory should be better for in-group information than for out-group information. However, past research has provided equivocal support for that prediction. This article advances a differential processing hypothesis that offers a solution to this paradox. The hypothesis suggests that whereas in-group information is organized by person categories, out-group information is organized through attribute categories. In-group membership alters the categorical basis of memory for person information, but these categories are not necessarily superior to the attribute categories that are used to organize out-group information. That is, both person and attribute categories elicit equal amounts of recall for the in-group and the out-group. Three experiments are reported that support the differential processing hypothesis.