Self-Reference and Evaluative Biases in the Perception of Trait Information

Research on self-referent information processing indicates that material linked to the self-concept is especially salient and accessible. In this research, we examined the effects of self-reference on recognition thresholds for personality descriptors. Two studies confirmed that self-descriptive traits are recognized at briefer exposure levels than are nondescriptive traits. In the second study, it was also found that the facilitative effects of self-reference are limited entirely to traits with strong, personal evaluative connotations; these results join with other findings suggesting an interdependence of self-reference and affect in the retrieval of information from semantic memory.