An extension of the ‘two-baskets’ theory to Native Americans

Abstract

A theory that private and collective self-cognitions are stored in separate locations in memory (Trafimow, Triandis, & Goto, 1991; Trafimow, Silverman, Fan, & Law, 1997) was tested with a sample of participants (Native Americans) that differed substantially from those in previous research. Two findings supported the theory. First, participants retrieved more private self-cognitions when the private self rather than the collective self was primed; but retrieved more collective self-cognitions when the collective self rather than the private self was primed. Second, people were more likely to retrieve a private self-cognition following another private self-cognition than following a collective one, but were more likely to retrieve a collective self-cognition following another collective one than following a private one. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.