The effect of need for cognition on the stability of prejudiced attitudes toward South American immigrants

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of thinking in reducing prejudice toward stigmatized groups. Method: Participants received a persuasive message composed of strong arguments in favor of South American immigrants or a control message. In order to distinguish high- from low-elaboratio...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Cárdaba, Miguel Angel, Briñol Turnes, Pablo Antonio, Horcajo Rosado, Francisco Javier, Petty, Richard E.
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2013
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositório:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/665571
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/665571
https://dx.doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2012.107
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Prejudice
Need for cognition
Attitudes
Persuasion
Prejuicio
Necesidad de cognición
Persuasión
Psicología
Descrição
Resumo:The purpose of this study was to examine the role of thinking in reducing prejudice toward stigmatized groups. Method: Participants received a persuasive message composed of strong arguments in favor of South American immigrants or a control message. In order to distinguish high- from low-elaboration individuals, participants were asked to complete the Need for Cognition Scale (NC). Results: As expected, attitude change was equivalent for individuals with relatively high and low NC. Importantly, although both high- and low-NC participants showed a reduction in the extremity of prejudiced attitudes, the stability of these changes was different. Two days later, the changes produced in participants with high NC were found to be more persistent than equivalent changes produced in participants with low NC. Conclusions: An understanding of the processes through which prejudiced attitudes are modifi ed can provide information about the long-term stability of such changes