Skip to main content

Selective use of heuristic and systematic processing under defense motivation

Giner-Sorolla, Roger, Chaiken, Shelly (1997) Selective use of heuristic and systematic processing under defense motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23 (1). pp. 84-97. ISSN 0146-1672. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:36671)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.

Abstract

Recent versions of the heuristic-systematic model predict that defense-motivated people will process heuristic cues selectively in two ways: (a) Heuristic cues will be subject to biased evaluation, and (b) heuristic, rather than systematic, processing will predominate when cues support, rather than threaten, defensive concerns. This experiment presented college students with a proposed mandatory essay-exam program, giving opinion poll results as a heuristic cue, followed either by arguments both for and against essay exams, or by no arguments. Cues congenial to students' preferred test type were judged as more reliable than hostile cues when no arguments were presented. Systematic processing mediated attitude judgment only when the cue was hostile; when the cue was congenial, attitude judgment was more influenced by vested interest. This influence may represent a low-effort heuristic processing strategy specific to defense motivation.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Roger Giner-Sorolla
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2013 14:08 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:13 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/36671 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Giner-Sorolla, Roger.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6690-8842
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.