NEED FOR COGNITION AND THOUGHT-INDUCED ATTITUDE POLARIZATION - ANOTHER LOOK

Thought-induced attitude polarization is the process of causing an att itude to become more extreme by thinking about it. Leone and Ensley (1 986) reported that individual differences in need for cognition modera te the effect of thought on attitude polarization. The present researc h both confirmed and qualified their work Consistent with Leone and En sley's results, Study 2 showed that a low (relative to high) need for cognition is associated with greater thought-induced attitude polariza tion when explicit instructions to think about one's attitudes are iss ued. However, in Studies 1, 2, and 3, we found that when not explicitl y directed to reflect on their recently expressed attitudes, individua ls high, rather than low, in need for cognition exhibited relatively m ore attitude polarization. This difference in extent of attitude polar ization was eliminated in Study 3 when the opportunity for attitude-re levant thought was precluded. Study 4 demonstrated that individuals wi th a high (vs. low) need for cognition generate more overall attitude- relevant thought. Taken together the data provide support for the argu ment that a high need for cognition promotes more spontaneous thought about recently expressed attitudes, and thus is more associated with a ttitude polarization in situations where no directive to think is fort hcoming.