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Lionizing those who Agree and Demonizing those who Disagree: Effects on Attitude Extremity
Rebollar, Carlos
Rebollar, Carlos
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2022
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5/19/2022
Abstract
Past research has shown that merely thinking about an attitude object can result in self-generated attitude polarization (Tesser, 1978). The current study examined the effects of a specific type of thought: attributing personality traits to proponents and opponents of a social issue on participants' attitudes toward partisans on both sides. Participants completed an online survey in which they either attributed personality traits to people who support or oppose legalized abortions, or listed synonyms of experimenter-provided personality traits. Participants who made trait attributions reported more positive attitudes towards those who agreed and more negative attitudes toward those who disagreed with the participant's position on abortion than did participants who wrote synonyms. Additionally, extremity of attributed traits predicted more positive (negative) post-manipulation attitudes towards those who agreed (disagreed) with the participant's position on abortion. Our findings extended past research on mere thought by offering new insights into a specific thought strategy that can lead to attitude polarization.
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Psychology