Thought confidence as a determinant of persuasion: the self-validation hypothesis.
Previous research in the domain of attitude change has described 2 primary dimensions of thinking that impact persuasion processes and outcomes: the extent (amount) of thinking and the direction (valence) of issue-relevant thought. The authors examined the possibility that another, more meta-cognitive aspect of thinking is also important-the degree of confidence people have in their own thoughts. Four studies test the notion that thought confidence affects the extent of persuasion. When positive thoughts dominate in response to a message, increasing confidence in those thoughts increases persuasion, but when negative thoughts dominate, increasing confidence decreases persuasion. In addition, using self-reported and manipulated thought confidence in separate studies, the authors provide evidence that the magnitude of the attitude-thought relationship depends on the confidence people have in their thoughts. Finally, the authors also show that these self-validation effects are most likely in situations that foster high amounts of information processing activity.
Petty
Richard E
RE
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210-1222, USA. petty.1@osu.edu
Briñol
Pablo
P
Tormala
Zakary L
ZL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011340:Problem Solving; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013850:Thinking