Public and Private Self-Consciousness and the Recall of Self-Relevant Information

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to assess the extent to which public and private self-consciousness affect the recall of self-relevant information. Subjects rated adjectives under one of three conditions (public self-reference, private self-reference, non-self-reference) and were given a surprise recall task. Results indicated that subjects showed the "self-reference memory enhancement effect"(Rogers, 1981) for those words processed under the self-referent condition congruent with their types of self-consciousness. High public self-conscious subjects recalled significantly more words rated under the public self-reference condition than the other two conditions, whereas high private self-conscious subjects recalled significantly more words rated under the private self-reference condition. Implications for further research are discussed.