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Santos D, Requero B, Moreno L, Briñol P, Petty R. Certainty in holistic thinking and responses to contradiction: Dialectical proverbs, counter-attitudinal change and ambivalence. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38949294 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
The present research examined whether consideration of individuals' certainty in their holism can enhance the ability of this individual difference to predict how they respond to contradiction-relevant outcomes. Across four studies, participants first completed a standardized measure of holistic-analytic thinking. Then, they rated how certain they were in their responses to the holism scale or were experimentally induced to feel high or low certainty. Next, participants were exposed to dialectical proverbs (Study 1a and 1b), to a counter-attitudinal change induction (Study 2), or to a paradigm of attitudinal ambivalence (Study 3). Results revealed that participants with higher certainty in their holistic thinking exhibited higher preference for dialectical proverbs (Study 1a and 1b), changed their attitude less following a counter-attitudinal task (Study 2) and showed weaker correspondence between objective and subjective ambivalence (Study 3). Beyond examining new domains and discovering novel findings, the present work was designed to be the first to show moderation of previously identified effects in the domain of holistic thinking and responses to contradiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Santos
- IE Business School, IE University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Blanca Requero
- Psychology Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Lorena Moreno
- Psychology Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo Briñol
- Psychology Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Richard Petty
- Psychology Department, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Ng WJR, See YHM, Wallace LE. When Objective Ambivalence Predicts Subjective Ambivalence: An Affect-Cognition Matching Perspective. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023; 49:1495-1510. [PMID: 35819181 DOI: 10.1177/01461672221102015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding when people are likely to feel ambivalent is important, as ambivalence is associated with key attitude outcomes, such as attitude-behavior consistency. Interestingly, the presence of conflicting positive and negative reactions (objective ambivalence) is weakly related to feeling conflicted (subjective ambivalence). We tested a novel situation that can influence the correspondence between objective and subjective ambivalence: whether a message and a recipient's topic match in affective versus cognitive orientation. When a person encounters a message with an affective or cognitive match to the topic, conflicting reactions may be more accessible, increasing feelings of ambivalence. Across five studies, greater objective-subjective ambivalence correspondence occurred with an affective-cognitive match between message and topic orientation. Studies 4 and 5 also demonstrated that this primarily occurred when the message was counterattitudinal. This work contributes to the literature explaining the gap between measures of objective and subjective ambivalence as well as how messages can influence attitude strength properties.
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Santos D, Martínez R, Briñol P, Petty RE. Improving attitudes towards minority groups by thinking about the thoughts and meta‐cognitions of their members. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David Santos
- IE School of Human Sciences and Technology IE University Madrid Spain
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When dueling emotions and conflicting beliefs predict subjective ambivalence: The role of meta-bases. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Stapels JG, Eyssel F. Let's not be indifferent about robots: Neutral ratings on bipolar measures mask ambivalence in attitudes towards robots. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244697. [PMID: 33439891 PMCID: PMC7806154 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Ambivalence, the simultaneous experience of both positive and negative feelings about one and the same attitude object, has been investigated within psychological attitude research for decades. Ambivalence is interpreted as an attitudinal conflict with distinct affective, behavioral, and cognitive consequences. In social psychological research, it has been shown that ambivalence is sometimes confused with neutrality due to the use of measures that cannot distinguish between neutrality and ambivalence. Likewise, in social robotics research the attitudes of users are often characterized as neutral. We assume that this is due to the fact that existing research regarding attitudes towards robots lacks the opportunity to measure ambivalence. In the current experiment (N = 45), we show that a neutral and a robot stimulus were evaluated equivalently when using a bipolar item, but evaluations differed greatly regarding self-reported ambivalence and arousal. This points to attitudes towards robots being in fact highly ambivalent, although they might appear neutral depending on the measurement method. To gain valid insights into people’s attitudes towards robots, positive and negative evaluations of robots should be measured separately, providing participants with measures to express evaluative conflict instead of administering bipolar items. Acknowledging the role of ambivalence in attitude research focusing on robots has the potential to deepen our understanding of users’ attitudes and their potential evaluative conflicts, and thus improve predictions of behavior from attitudes towards robots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia G. Stapels
- Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Friederike Eyssel
- Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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Toribio-Flórez D, van Harreveld F, Schneider IK. Ambivalence and Interpersonal Liking: The Expression of Ambivalence as Social Validation of Attitudinal Conflict. Front Psychol 2020; 11:525301. [PMID: 33132947 PMCID: PMC7550634 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.525301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Literature on attitude similarity suggests that sharing similar attitudes enhances interpersonal liking, but it remains unanswered whether this effect also holds for ambivalent attitudes. In the present research, we shed light on the role attitudinal ambivalence plays in interpersonal liking. Specifically, we examine whether people express ambivalence strategically to generate a positive or negative social image, and whether this is dependent on the attitudinal ambivalence of their perceiver. We test two alternative hypotheses. In line with the attitude-similarity effect, people should express ambivalence toward ambivalent others to enhance interpersonal liking, as sharing ambivalence might socially validate the latter’s experience of attitudinal conflict. On the other hand, people might express more univalence, as ambivalence may drive ambivalent others toward the resolution of their attitudinal conflict, and univalent stances could help to achieve that goal. In two studies (N = 449, 149), people expressed similar attitudes to those of their perceivers, even when the latter experienced attitudinal conflict (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, they composed an essay, the message of which validated their perceiver’s attitudinal conflict (Study 2). In line with these results, we further observe that the more people experienced their ambivalence as conflicting, the more they liked others who similarly experienced attitudinal conflict (Study 1). These findings suggest that the expression of ambivalence can have important interpersonal functions, as it might lead to an enhanced social image when interacting with those coping with attitudinal conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Toribio-Flórez
- Research Group 'Moral Courage', Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany.,School of Education, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Iris K Schneider
- Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.,Center for Social and Economic Behavior, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Luttrell A, Petty RE, Briñol P. The interactive effects of ambivalence and certainty on political opinion stability. JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.5964/jspp.v8i2.1247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Some political attitudes and opinions shift and fluctuate over time whereas others remain fairly stable. Prior research on attitude strength has documented several features of attitudes that predict their temporal stability. The present analysis focuses on two of them: attitudinal ambivalence and certainty. Each of these variables has received mixed support for its relationship with attitude stability. A recent set of studies, however, has addressed this link by showing that ambivalence and certainty interact to predict stability. Because those studies relied exclusively on college student samples and considered issues that may have been especially likely to evince change over time, the present analysis aimed to replicate the original findings in a sample of registered Florida voters with an important politically relevant issue: abortion. Results of these analyses replicated the previous findings and support the generalizability of the ambivalence × certainty interaction on attitude stability to a sample of registered voters reporting their attitudes toward abortion. Implications for public opinion and the psychology of political attitudes are discussed.
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Briñol P, Petty RE. Changing prejudiced attitudes, promoting egalitarianism, and enhancing diversity through fundamental processes of persuasion. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2020.1798102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Briñol
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain
| | - Richard E. Petty
- Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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Paredes B, Santos D, Briñol P, Gómez Á, Petty RE. The role of meta-cognitive certainty on the relationship between identity fusion and endorsement of extreme pro-group behavior. SELF AND IDENTITY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2019.1681498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Borja Paredes
- Departamento de Teoría y Análisis de la Comunicación, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - David Santos
- IE School of Human Sciences and Technology, IE University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo Briñol
- Departamento de Psicología Social y Metodología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ángel Gómez
- Departamento de Psicología Social y de las Organizaciones, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED, Madrid, Spain
| | - Richard E. Petty
- Department of Social Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Weng J, DeMarree KG. An Examination of Whether Mindfulness Can Predict the Relationship Between Objective and Subjective Attitudinal Ambivalence. Front Psychol 2019; 10:854. [PMID: 31068857 PMCID: PMC6491762 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Ambivalence is a mixed reaction toward an attitudinal object. Ambivalence is often viewed as aversive and people are motivated to reduce it. However, the presence of both strong positive and negative attitudes toward an object (objective ambivalence; OA) does not always lead to consciously experienced conflicted and torn feelings (subjective ambivalence; SA) or psychological discomfort. We hypothesized that the way people think about their inner experience can affect whether ambivalent attitudes lead to increased conflicted feelings. In five studies, we examined whether mindfulness predicts the relationship between objective and subjective ambivalence. We predicted that the acceptance aspect of mindfulness would attenuate the relationship between OA and SA, based on the idea that acceptance makes people more tolerant and less judgmental toward their inner states in general (and OA in particular). Although some findings across five studies were consistent with the prediction showing that acceptance attenuated the OA–SA relationship, other findings were not and even showed that acceptance strengthened the OA–SA relationship. A meta-analysis of the interaction effect across all studies failed to find support for predictions (r = -0.036 and 95% CI [-0.087; 0.022]). We discuss possible reasons for these mixed findings, and the implications of these studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Weng
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States
| | - Kenneth G DeMarree
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States
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Briñol P, Petty RE, Durso GRO, Rucker DD. Power and Persuasion: Processes by Which Perceived Power Can Influence Evaluative Judgments. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1037/gpr0000119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The present review focuses on how power—as a perception regarding the self, the source of the message, or the message itself—affects persuasion. Contemporary findings suggest that perceived power can increase or decrease persuasion depending on the circumstances and thus might result in both short-term and long-term consequences for behavior. Given that perceptions of power can produce different, and even opposite, effects on persuasion, it might seem that any relationship is possible and thus prediction is elusive or impossible. In contrast, the present review provides a unified perspective to understand and organize the psychological literature on the relationship between perceived power and persuasion. To accomplish this objective, present review identifies distinct mechanisms by which perceptions of power can influence persuasion and discusses when these mechanisms are likely to operate. In doing so, this article provides a structured approach for studying power and persuasion via antecedents, consequences, underlying psychological processes, and moderators. Finally, the article also discusses how power can affect evaluative judgments more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Briñol
- Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
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On the pursuit of desired attitudes: Wanting a different attitude affects information processing and behavior. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Luttrell A, Petty RE, Briñol P. Ambivalence and certainty can interact to predict attitude stability over time. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2015.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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