Steps, stages, and structure: finding compensatory order in scientific theories.
Stage theories are prominent and controversial in science. One possible reason for their appeal is that they provide order and predictability. Participants in Experiment 1 rated stage theories as more orderly and predictable (but less credible) than continuum theories. In Experiments 2-5, we showed that order threats increase the appeal of stage theories of grief (Experiment 2) and moral development (Experiments 4 and 5). Experiment 3 yielded similar results for a stage theory on Alzheimer's disease characterized by predictable decline, suggesting that preference for stage theories is independent of valence. Experiment 4 showed that the effect of threat on theory preference was mediated by the motivated perception of order, and Experiment 5 revealed that it is particularly the fixed order of stages that increases their appeal.
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. bastiaan.rutjens@gmail.com
Bastiaan T
BT
Rutjens
Frenk
F
van Harreveld
Joop
J
van der Pligt
Loes M
LM
Kreemers
Marret K
MK
Noordewier
D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012586:Science; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult