Ingroup bias in conversational memory
The Role of Nationalism in the Saying-Is-Believing Effect
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7163281 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Claudio Figueroa-Grenett (0000-0002-1008-3968, Universidad Santo Tomás, corresponding author), Andrés Haye Molina (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), Darío Páez Rovira (Universidad Andres Bello), D Camacho Rovira (Universidad Andres Bello), Felipe Muller (0000-0002-1269-9758, University of Belgrano) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 168-179 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-07 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Memory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0965-8211 • E-ISSN: 1464-0686 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09658211.2025.2601700 |
| PMID | 41498329 |
| OpenAlex | W7118566629 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Research on the saying-is-believing effect shows that individuals tune their messages to match the audience's attitude and subsequently exhibit memory bias in the same direction. However, its implications in the context of collective memory remain understudied. Drawing on social identity theory, prior research suggests that people reconstruct memories of their group's past selectively, emphasising positive aspects and minimising negative ones. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, this study examined the saying-is-believing effect in national history by manipulating audience attitude (positive vs. negative) and message production (with vs. without message generation). Results show that the effect extends to national history, with participants tuning their messages and biasing their memory according to the audience's attitude. However, those high in nationalism showed neither message tuning nor memory bias. These findings suggest that for individuals high in nationalism, social identity motivations override the epistemic and relational motives that typically drive the saying-is-believing effect
Autobiographical memory · Collective memory · In-group favoritism · Ingroups and outgroups · Nationalism · Social identity theory · Social memory · Cultural Differences and Values · Media Influence and Health · Social and Intergroup Psychology
Crimes of the Past
Remembering in Conversations
Psychology, Science, and Knowledge Construction
Ingroup Glorification, Moral Disengagement, and Justice in the Context of Collective Violence
Group Identification and Historical Memory
Beyond small, medium, or large
Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective
Shared Reality
Effects of communication on social knowledge
Implications of a Psychological Approach to Collective Remembering
Creating shared reality in interpersonal and intergroup communication
Collective guilt
A Meta‐Analytical Review of the Saying‐is‐Believing Phenomenon
Reconstructing the Past and Attributing the Responsibility for the Holocaust
It’s about valence
Communication and Group Perception
Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective
Empirically derived guidelines for effect size interpretation in social psychology
Attributions for the negative historical actions of a group
The generalization of shared reality
Communication effects on memory and judgment
Talking about visually perceived events
Saying is believing”
Toward a Measure of Patriotic and Nationalistic Attitudes
What Does It Mean to Be an American? Patriotism, Nationalism, and American Identity After 9/11
Audience-tuning effects on memory
Guilty by association
The paradox of group-based guilt
How the past weighs on the present
Towards a psychology of collective memory
Audience-Tuning Effects on Memory
Testing functional theory of life values with students living in residential care institutions
| Highly cited | No |
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