Interdependent and independent self-knowledge as a determinant of assimilation versus contrast in contextual priming

When people suspect contextual influences on their judgments about social stimuli, they may undertake corrective attempts by either assimilating or contrasting their judgements to the context, In the present paper, these assumptions were applied to self-related judgements. Here. the probability of engaging in corrective attempts should depend upon a person's self-definition. Individuals with independent self-construals are expected to perceive contextual influences on self-related judgements as distorting and will consequently show a tendency to contrast their judgements to the context. Since individuals with interdependent self-construals should experience contextual influences as an adequate basis for their self-related judgements, they will more likely assimilate their judgements to the context. In two studies, participants with interdependent self-construals assimilated judgements, as expected towards the content of experimentally primed self-knowledge, whereas either contrast effects or no priming effects were observed in participants with independent self-construals.