Open Access
American Research Journal of History and Culture
ISSN (Online): 2379-2914
DOI: 10.46568/arjhc
Running Head: Context-Specific Recall of Self-Cognitions: Language as a Prime for Positive Relational Self-Statements
1Southern University at New Orleans, 2 New Mexico State University, 3 Southern University at New Orleans
Abstract
Three types of self-cognitions are hypothesized: (a) private self-cognitions; (b) collective self
cognitions, and (c) relational self-cognitions. Trafimow, Triandis, and Goto (1997) showed that language affects
the activation the private and collective self. However, they did not investigate how language affects their
valences. There is reason to believe that language should have differential effects on the valences of private,
collective, and relational self-cognitions. Because private and collective self-cognitions tend to be abstract, they
are generally good or bad regardless of context. In contrast, relational self-cognitions are more specific and have
valences that are more strongly linked to specific contexts. Consequently, their valences are more amenable to
being influenced by a language manipulation. We found evidence of this in the present experiment
