The Association Between Egalitarian Gender Perception and Stereotype-Consistent False Memories: An Individual Differences Approach

This study investigated the association between individual differences in gender perception and memory accuracy and response confidence using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. The primary aim was to examine whether memory performance for gender-themed versus neutral word lists varied according to participants' levels of egalitarian gender perception. A sample of 195 participants completed a gender perception scale and a subsequent DRM recognition task. Analyses revealed that more egalitarian gender perceptions were associated with higher memory sensitivity (d'), indicating better discrimination between studied and non-studied items. Analysis of the interaction effects revealed that as egalitarianism increased, false recognition rates for gender-themed critical lures specifically decreased, while rates for neutral lures remained unaffected. Confidence analyses revealed a novel metacognitive pattern: egalitarianism was associated with lower confidence in false memories and higher confidence in correct recognitions for gender-themed items. These findings suggest that individual differences in gender-related schemas may predict false memory susceptibility for stereotype-relevant material. Together, the findings suggest a selective calibration of confidence for stereotype-consistent memory errors.