CONSTRUCTIVE BIASES IN SOCIAL JUDGMENT - EXPERIMENTS ON THE SELF-VERIFICATION OF QUESTION CONTENTS

Merely thinking about a proposition can increase its subjective truth, even when it is initially denied. Propositions may trigger inferences that depend not on evidence for truth but only on the semantic match with relevant knowledge. In a series of experiments, participants were presented with questions implying positive or negative judgments of d iscussants in a videotaped talk show. Subsequent ratings were biased t oward the question contents, even when the judges themselves initially denied the questions. However, this constructive bias is subject to e pistemic constraints. Judgments were biased only when knowledge about the target's role (active agent vs. passive recipient role) was matche d by the semantic-linguistic implications of propositions (including a ction verbs vs. state verbs).