Raw data (aggregated and unaggregated) for Experiments 1 – 3

Several factors guide our attention and the way we process our surroundings. In that regard, there is an ongoing debate about the way we are influenced by stimuli that have a particular self-relevance for us. Recent findings suggest that self-relevance does not always capture our attention automatically. Instead, an interpretation of the literature might be that self-relevance serves as an associative advantage facilitating the integration of relevant stimuli into the self-concept. We compared the effect of self-relevant stimuli with the effect of negative stimuli in three tasks measuring different aspects of cognitive processing. We found a first dissociation suggesting that negative valence attracts attention while self-relevance does not, a second dissociation suggesting that self-relevance influences stimulus processing beyond attention-grabbing mechanisms and in the form of an “associative glue,” while negative valence does not, and, last but not least, a third dissociation suggesting that self-relevance influences stimulus processing at a later stage than negative valence does.

Dataset for: Schäfer, S., Wentura, D., & Frings, C. (2020). Creating a network of importance: The particular effects of self-relevance on stimulus processing. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 82(7), 3750–3766. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-020-02070-7