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Winter K, Scholl A, Sassenberg K. Flexible minds make more moderate views: Subtractive counterfactuals mitigate strong views about immigrants’ trustworthiness. GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/13684302221102876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Public discourse on immigration has seemed to polarize over recent years—with some people strongly trusting, but others strongly distrusting immigrants. We examined whether a cognitive strategy could mitigate these biased outgroup judgments. Given that subtractive counterfactual thoughts (“If only I had not done X. . .”) facilitate cognitive flexibility and especially a relational processing style, we hypothesized that these thoughts (vs. additive counterfactuals “If only I had done X. . .” and no counterfactuals) would weaken the relationship between people’s political orientation and the perceived trustworthiness of immigrants. In five experiments (two preregistered; total N = 1,189), we found that inducing subtractive (but not additive) counterfactuals—either via rhetorical questions in a political speech or via mindset priming—had the predicted debiasing effect. Taken together, subtle means such as using subtractive counterfactual questions in political communication seem to be a promising way to reduce biased outgroup judgments in heated public debates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Winter
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Annika Scholl
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Kai Sassenberg
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
- University of Tübingen, Germany
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Knab N, Steffens MC. “Why Do You Think Christmas Will Never Ever Be Celebrated Again?” A paradoxical thinking intervention's potential to affect conflict‐related concerns, willingness to compromise, and openness towards refugees. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Sassenberg K, Winter K, Becker D, Ditrich L, Scholl A, Moskowitz GB. Flexibility mindsets: Reducing biases that result from spontaneous processing. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2021.1959124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kai Sassenberg
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Social Processes Lab, Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien
- Faculty of Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Kevin Winter
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Social Processes Lab, Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien
| | - Daniela Becker
- Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Lara Ditrich
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Social Processes Lab, Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien
| | - Annika Scholl
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Social Processes Lab, Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien
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