Memory bias for social hierarchical information is modulated by perceived social rank

Hierarchies pervade human society, characterizing its members along diverse dimensions ranging from their abilities or skills in a particular domain to their economic status or physical stature. One intriguing aspect of the centrality of hierarchies, relative to egalitarian constructs, is that hierarchically-organized social information appears to be remembered more easily than non-hierarchically-organized information. However, it is not yet clear how one’s social rank within a hierarchy influences processing. In a pre-registered study with 66 healthy participants, we examined memory recall for hierarchical information when participants themselves were positioned higher in the hierarchy versus lower in the hierarchy, both relative to an egalitarian control condition. The results replicate previous work showing that hierarchical information is memorized faster relative to the egalitarian control. Importantly, this effect was modulated by the participant’s position within the hierarchy, with higher-positioned participants memorizing information faster than lower-positioned participants. This study provides new evidence about the interaction of perceptions of one’s own social status with memory for social hierarchical information.