Illusory correlation and group impression formation in young and older adults

Abstract

This study investigated whether a greater illusory correlation bias is present in older adults' memory and evaluative judgment for majority and minority social groups and, if so, whether this bias might be due to an age-related decline in the ability to engage in on-line processing of group-trait information. Young and older adults read desirable and undesirable trait adjectives about the members of 2 groups under either no-distraction or distraction conditions. Group A had twice as many members as Group B and, for both groups, desirable traits occurred twice as often as undesirable traits. Afterwards, participants completed group-trait memory and evaluative judgment tasks. Greater illusory correlation in memory and evaluative judgment after distraction suggested that diverting resources to competing tasks produced deficits in both memory for specific group-trait information and on-line group impression formation. Older adults' memory for specific group-trait information was disrupted more by distraction than was young adults' memory. However, there were no age differences in evaluative judgment after either distraction condition, suggesting that on-line impression formation activities remain intact in old age. These findings are interpreted within the framework of fuzzy trace theory.