All Volumes (2001-2008)

Volume

Volume VII, 2008

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

It was hypothesized that (1) people’s attitudes will polarize more and have greater belief consistency with an increased amount of time for thought than with less amount of time for thought, (2) people’s attitudes will polarize more and have greater belief consistency when instructed to think about individuals rather than groups and given a high opportunity for thought, and (3) people’s attitudes will polarize more and have greater belief consistency when instructed to think about individuals rather than groups, are given a high opportunity for thought if those people have a low personal fear of invalidity rather than having a high personal fear of invalidity. We manipulated opportunity for thought and target. We measured the personal fear of invalidity as a moderator variable. We measured attitude polarization and belief consistency. Participants were directed to give initial impressions to descriptors of nonspecific individuals or groups. Participants were then directed to think about some of those descriptors as rebel insurgent individuals or groups. Although our hypotheses were not supported, other findings were significant. Plausible alternative explanations, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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