The E-T scale: individual differences in preferences for epistemic versus teleologic tactics of deliberate self-persuasion

Abstract

Maio and Thomas (2007) reviewed two types of tactics for changing one's own attitudes without additional information: epistemic and teleologic. Epistemic tactics involve interpreting negative characteristics more positively whereas teleologic tactics involve directing attention away from negative characteristics. In their extensive review, Maio and Thomas (2007) described situations in which people may prefer using either epistemic or teleologic tactics. Although they did not create a psychological scale to measure these preferences, they noted the importance of measuring individual differences. A psychological scale (i.e., the E-T Scale) was developed to measure preferences for epistemic versus teleologic tactics (Experiment 1). Reliability measure analyses and discriminant validity analyses with 11 other individual difference measures were also conducted (Experiment 2). Finally, a third experiment tested the proposed scale's construct validity with participants' memory recall for negative life characteristics. These experiments' results suggested that the E-T Scale reflects differences in the cognitive processes employed during attempts to change one's one attitudes.