CONTEXT EFFECTS IN POLITICAL JUDGMENT - ASSIMILATION AND CONTRAST AS A FUNCTION OF CATEGORIZATION PROCESSES

Two experiments demonstrate that thinking about a given politician may result in assimilation as well as contrast effects in evolutions of t he politician's party. In two experiments, assimilation effects were o bserved when an experimental categorization task elicited the inclusio n of a highly respected politician in the representation formed of his party, wheres contrast effects were observed when the categorization task elicited his exclusion from the representation, with the control group falling in between. Hence, the same information may elicit assim ilation as well as contrast effects, depending on its use in mental co nstrual. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.