1 Stanford University, CA, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2017 Jan;43(1):3-16. doi: 10.1177/0146167216673349. Epub 2016 Nov 12.
Do people advocate more on behalf of their own attitudes and opinions when they feel certain or uncertain? Although considerable past research suggests that people are more likely to advocate when they feel highly certain, there also is evidence for the opposite effect-that people sometimes advocate more when they experience a loss of certainty. The current research seeks to merge these insights. Specifically, we explore the possibility that the relationship between attitude certainty and attitudinal advocacy is curvilinear. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find evidence for a J-shaped curve: Advocacy intentions (and behavior) peak under high certainty, bottom out under moderate certainty, and show an uptick under low (relative to moderate) certainty. We document this relationship and investigate its potential mechanisms in three studies by examining advocacy intentions and the actual advocacy messages participants write when they feel high, moderate, or low certainty.
当人们感到确定或不确定时，他们更倾向于代表自己的态度和意见吗？尽管过去有相当多的研究表明，当人们感到非常确定时，他们更有可能拥护某个立场，但也有证据表明相反的效果——当人们感到确定性降低时，他们有时会更积极地拥护某个立场。目前的研究旨在整合这些观点。具体来说，我们探讨了态度确定性和态度拥护之间的关系是否呈曲线关系的可能性。我们的研究结果支持了这一假设，即发现了一条 J 形曲线：拥护意图（和行为）在高度确定时达到峰值，在中度确定时达到谷底，在低度（相对于中度）确定时出现回升。我们在三项研究中记录了这种关系，并通过考察参与者在感到高度、中度或低度确定时的拥护意图和实际的拥护信息，研究了这种关系的潜在机制。
