Rucker Derek D, Petty Richard E
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1222, USA.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2004 Feb;86(2):219-35. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.219.
This research tests the notion that attitudes after a failed attempt to counterargue may be stronger than attitudes after undirected thinking. Specifically, failed counterarguing may be accompanied by unique metacognitions that serve to strengthen the attitude. The present research examines this issue by giving participants a very strong message and instructing them to counterargue or simply think about the message. Across several experiments, attitudes were as favorable when individuals were trying to counterargue as when they were simply thinking, indicating that counterarguing failed to instill any extra resistance. However, attitudes were held with greater certainty following failed counterarguing compared with following undirected thinking. Furthermore, attitudes following failed counterarguing were more predictive of subsequent behavioral intentions. The metacognitions that follow failed counterarguing are addressed.
本研究检验了这样一种观点，即反驳失败后的态度可能比无指向性思考后的态度更强烈。具体而言，反驳失败可能伴随着独特的元认知，这些元认知有助于强化态度。本研究通过向参与者提供一个非常有力的信息，并指示他们进行反驳或仅仅思考该信息来考察这个问题。在多个实验中，当个体试图反驳时的态度与他们仅仅思考时的态度一样积极，这表明反驳未能灌输任何额外的抵抗力。然而，与无指向性思考相比，反驳失败后态度的确定性更高。此外，反驳失败后的态度对随后的行为意图更具预测性。文中探讨了反驳失败后出现的元认知。
