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Social Cognition, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1987, pp $49
RICHARD CATRAMBONE AND HAZEL MARKUS University of Michigan
We examined the effects of self-schemas on the evaluation and memory of another person's behaviors and on prediction and inference about this person. Tasks that
required the perceiver to use information that was directly accessible from the target other did not show performance differences between independent schemat
ics (individuals rating themselves very high in the target domain, independence)
and aschematics (individuals who did not so rate themselves). However, tasks that
required some inference or conjecture did show large differences. This suggests that the self-concept systematically influences social cognition in situations where the perceiver has to go beyond the information given.
The self-concept has been accorded an important role in all aspects of person perception. It is thought to be influential in forming impres
sions of others, in remembering their behavior, and in attributing causality (Catrambone & Druian, 1986; Druian, DeBono, & Catram-bone, 1983; Greenwald, 1982; Higgins, King, & Mavin, 1982; Hirsch-
berg & Jennings, 1980; Lewicki, 1983; Markus, Smith, & Moreland, 1985). In a recent study, Markus et al. (1985) conclude that the self-
concept may "influence the entire person perception process includ
ing the perception and organization of the behavior of others, the memory for and inferences about the behavior, and the evaluation of
it" (p. 1510).
In the present research,
we have viewed the "self-concept" as
including a set of self-schemas that have connections in memory. A
This research supported by Grant No. BNS 85-42827 from the National Science Foundation. We would like to thank Deena Haimovitz, Michael Barron, and Michael
Nathan for their able assistance in running subjects. We would also like to thank James
Hilton, Julie Norem, and Elissa Wurf for their comments this paper. Requests for
reprints should be sent to Hazel Markus, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Insti tute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106.
349
THE ROLE OF SELF-SCHEMAS
IN GOING BEYOND THE
INFORMATION GIVEN
350 CATRAMBONE AND MARKUS
"self-schema" is defined as a "cognitive generalization about the self,
derived from past experience, that organizes and guides the process ing oi self-related information contained in the individual's social
ex
some
one of the perceiver s
self-schemas, then...