THOUGHT, OBJECTIVISM, AND OPINION EXTREMITY - INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDE POLARIZATION AND ATTENUATION

It was predicted that as the opportunity for thought increased, both t he evaluative consistency of altitude-related beliefs and the intensit y of attitudes (i.e. affect) would (1) increase for persons high in ob jectivism and (2) decrease for persons low in objectivism. Participant s were classified as either high or low in objectivism. They were give n either a brief or ample opportunity to think about descriptions of i ndividuals toward whom they had previously expressed moderately strong attitudes. The results supported all predictions. Additional analyses indicated that attitude change was contingent upon belief change. Alt ernative explanations for the results are discussed. Copyright (C) 199 6 Elsevier Science Ltd.