PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES IN DISSONANCE RESOLUTION.

Abstract

Following the induction of either a positive or negative impression of an object person (OP) through descriptions of his past behavior, concrete and abstract Ss were presented descriptions of OP's present behavior that run counter to their past and wrote a two paragraph explanation of the perceived consistency-inconsistency. Concrete Ss, significantly more than abstract individuals, (1) perceived inconsistencies between OP's past and present behavior, (2) were negatively aroused by the inconsistency, (3) sought to neutralize the inconsistencies by attributing them to temporal change in OP's, (4) gave few explanations of the inconsistencies, (5) gave poorly integrated accounts of the inconsistencies, and (6) used stereotypic labels in their explanations. In addition, concrete Ss were significantly less tentative in their conclusions about the OPs and significantly more likely to view OP's possession of desirable and undesirable characteristics as mutually exclusive. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0641511

Entities

People

  • O. J. Harvey
  • Robert Ware

Organizations

  • University of Colorado Boulder

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Behavior And Behavior Mechanisms
  • Concrete
  • Consistency
  • Construction Materials
  • Personality

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Educational Psychology
  • Organizational Psychology.