Multiple roles for majority versus minority source status on persuasion when source status follows the message

Statement: "This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in [JOURNAL TITLE] on [date of publication], available online at:http://www.tandfonline.com/[Article DOI]."This research shows that numerical majority (vs minority) status of the source can affect persuasion by different processes when induced after message processing. Specifically, we argue that source status affects persuasion by serving as a simple peripheral validity cue under low-elaboration conditions, and by validating thoughts-a metacognitive process-under high-elaboration conditions. In the present study the extent of elaboration was manipulated (high vs low), and then participants received a persuasive message composed of either strong or weak arguments that were presented by a source in the numerical majority or minority. This source status information was introduced following the message. We predicted and found that, under high-elaboration conditions the majority source increased the argument quality effect on attitudes in response to the message compared to the minority source. In contrast, under low-elaboration conditions the information regarding source status served as a simple cue, with the majority source leading to more persuasion compared to the minority source regardless of argument quality. Thus the present results provide the first evidence for moderation of different effects for majority/minority influence when the numerical status of the source follows message processing

The interplay between self-talk and body posture on physical performance: analyzing a moderated serial multiple mediation model

Prior research has shown that non-verbal behavior (e.g., overt head movements) can moderate the effects of positive and negative self-talk on physical performance. In the current studies, we aimed to extend existing research on self-talk by examining a different non-verbal behavior (i.e., body posture), as well as specifying some conditions under which body posture can interact with self-talk on physical performance from the Self-Validation Theory perspective. Most importantly, we proposed and tested a moderated serial multiple mediation model. In Studies 1 and 2, self-talk (i.e., positive vs. negative) and body posture (i.e., upright vs. slumped) were manipulated between participants. In Study 1, soccer players performed slalom and dribbling tests. In Study 2, athletes performed a push-up test. We hypothesized and found that positive (vs. negative) self-talk influenced physical performance to a greater extent for participants in the upright posture (i.e., validating) condition than for participants in the slumped posture (i.e., invalidating) condition. Furthermore, Study 3 was designed to analyze a moderated serial multiple mediation model. In this third study, self-talk was positive, body posture was manipulated, and the meaning of body posture was measured as a moderator. Results supported the proposed model, identifying the perceived validity of self-statements (i.e., the self-validation mechanism) and self-efficacy as serial mediators. That is, the meaning (i.e., validity-invalidity) moderated the effects of body posture on athletes’ physical performance in a pull-up test, through the indirect effects of the perceived validity of selfstatements and self-efficacy. Implications for self-talk research and application are discussedThis research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain) [Grant number: PID2020-116651GB-C33/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033

La advertencia del intento persuasivo en contextos publicitarios

Cuando las personas saben que se las está intentando convencer, tienden a resistirse puesto que en general no desean ser manipuladas. Asimismo, los mensajes ambiguos son menos persuasivos que los mensajes claros y ordenados, entre otras razones, porque las personas prefieren los estímulos fáciles de procesar. En la presente investigación se propone que estas dos variables (advertencia del intento persuasivo y ambigüedad del mensaje) pueden resultar paradójicamente más persuasivas cuando se utilizan conjuntamente. Los participantes del estudio recibieron un mensaje ordenado (baja ambigüedad) o desordenado (alta ambigüedad) que fue presentado como un anuncio publicitario (intento persuasivo) o una narración no comercial. Tal y como se esperaba, se encontró que el mensaje ambiguo resultó más persuasivo cuando fue presentado como un anuncio (contexto publicitario) que cuando fue presentado en un contexto meramente narrativo. Saber que un anuncio publicitario constituye un intento por convencer puede hacer que los pensamientos que se generen para interpretarlo sean de valencia positiva (como los argumentos que supuestamente contiene el mensaje), dando lugar a un mayor cambio de actitudesForewarning of a persuasive attempt has been found to reduce persuasion because people tend to resist being manipulated. Likewise, messages that are high in ambiguity tend to be less persuasive than messages that are clear, among other reasons, because people prefer information that is easy to be processed. The present research postulates that these two variables (persuasive attempt forewarning and message ambiguity) can result paradoxically persuasive when combined together. Participants of the present experiment received a message composed by images that were presented in a logic (low ambiguity) or in a random order (high ambiguity). Furthermore, the message was said to be a commercial advertisement (with persuasive attempt) or a neutral narrative (without persuasive attempt). As predicted, it was found that the highly ambiguous message was more persuasive when it was presented as an advertisement (with persuasive attempt) rather than as a narrative context (without persuasive attempt). Knowing that the message constitutes a persuasive attempt (ad) could bias the generation of thoughts to interpret that information in a positive manner (consonant with the direction of the arguments supposedly contained in the ad), leading to more attitude chang

Treating thoughts as material objects can increase or decrease their impact on evaluation

When posting or re-using the article, you should provide a link/URL from the article posted to the SAGE Journals Online site where the article is published: http://online.sagepub.com and please make the following acknowledgment: "The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in , Vol/Issue, Month/Year by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © [The Author(s)]"In Western dualistic culture, it is assumed that thoughts cannot be treated as material objects; however, language is replete with metaphorical analogies suggesting otherwise. In the research reported here, we examined whether objectifying thoughts can influence whether the thoughts are used in subsequent evaluations. In Experiment 1, participants wrote about what they either liked or disliked about their bodies. Then, the paper on which they wrote their thoughts was either ripped up and tossed in the trash or kept and checked for errors. When participants physically discarded a representation of their thoughts, they mentally discarded them as well, using them less in forming judgments than did participants who retained a representation of their thoughts. Experiment 2 replicated this finding and also showed that people relied on their thoughts more when they physically kept them in a safe place—putting their thoughts in their pockets—than when they discarded them. A final study revealed that these effects were stronger when the action was performed physically rather than merely imagined.This research was supported in part by Spanish Grant No. PSI2011-26212 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación to the first author and by National Science Foundation Grant No. 0847834 to the third author

El efecto de la necesidad de cognición sobre la estabilidad de las actitudes hacia los inmigrantes sudamericanos

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 changesEl objetivo de este estudio era examinar el papel de la elaboración mental en la reducción del prejuicio hacia grupos estigmatizados. Método: la mitad de los participantes recibió un mensaje persuasivo compuesto por argumentos fuertes a favor de los inmigrantes sudamericanos en España. La otra mitad de participantes recibió un mensaje control. Con la finalidad de distinguir a los individuos con mayor o menor motivación para procesar la información recibida, los participantes completaron la escala de Necesidad de Cognición (NC). Resultados: el cambio de actitud hacia los inmigrantes sudamericanos fue equivalente para todos los participantes independientemente de su NC. Sin embargo, la estabilidad de ese cambio de actitudes varió en función de las diferencias individuales en NC. Dos días más tarde, los cambios producidos en las actitudes de los individuos que puntuaron alto en la escala de NC fueron más persistentes que aquellos cambios que tuvieron lugar en las actitudes de los individuos con bajas puntuaciones en NC. Conclusiones: considerar la cantidad de pensamiento implicada en las campañas de reducción de prejuicio puede resultar informativa de cara a sus efectos y consecuencias a largo plaz

Using the implicit association test to assess risk propensity self-concept: analysis of its predictive validity on a risk-tak ing behaviour in a natural setting

The present work analyses the predictive validity of measures provided by several available self-report and indirect measurement instruments to assess risk propensity (RP) and proposes a measurement instrument using the Implicit Association Test: the IAT of Risk Propensity Self-Concept (IAT-RPSC), an adaptation of the prior IAT-RP of Dislich et al. Study 1 analysed the relationship between IAT-RPSC scores and several RP self-report measures. Participants’ risk-taking behaviour in a natural setting was also assessed, analyzing the predictive validity of the IAT-RPSC scores on risk-taking behaviour compared with the self-report measures. Study 2 analysed the predictive validity of the IAT-RPSC scores in comparison with other indirect measures. Results of these studies showed that the IAT-RPSC scores exhibited good reliability and were positively correlated to several self-report and indirect measures, providing evidence for convergent validity. Most importantly, the IAT-RPSC scores predicted risk-taking behaviour in a natural setting with real consequences above and beyond all other self-report and indirect measures analysed.This research has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, research grants PSI2008-02916 and PSI2011-2700

Objective Comparison of Achievement Motivation and Competitiveness among Semi-Professional Male and Female Football Players

The aim of this study was to examine differences in achievement motivation (measured with the Objective Achievement Motivation Test, OLMT, Schuhfried®) and competitiveness between male and female semi-professional football players. The OLMT objectively assessed three constructs regarding achievement motivation: motivation through personal goals, aspiration level, and motivation through competition. In addition, competitiveness was measured with the self-reported Competitiveness-10 Questionnaire. Finally, participants’ performance was assessed by three expert observers in each of ten matches. Thirty-eight football players (men = 27; women = 11) participated in the present study, and no significant differences were found in the Levene test when comparing men and women with respect to the scores obtained in the different measures used in our research. Significant differences were found in the motivation through competition (p = 0.021) as well as in self-reported competitiveness (p = 0.020) as a function of gender, with males showing higher values in both cases. No gender differences were found in aspiration level (p = 0.283) or motivation through personal goals (p = 0.897). Moreover, age and player performance did not modulate gender differences on any measures. No significant correlation was found between motivational measures and performance. In conclusion, it should be noted that the only variable on which gender differences emerged was the level of competitiveness, such that males scored higher than females on both objective and self-reported measure

The effects of perceived COVID-19 threat on compensatory conviction, thought reliance, and attitudes

This research examines how people can defend themselves from the threat associated with the COVID-19 pandemic by relying more on their recently generated thoughts (unrelated to the threat), thus leading those thoughts to have a greater impact on judgement through a meta-cognitive process of thought validation. Study 1 revealed that the impact of the favourability of self-related thoughts on self-esteem was greater for those feeling relatively more (vs. less) threatened by COVID-19. Study 2 manipulated (rather than measured) the favourability of thoughts and assessed the perceived COVID-19 threat. Results also showed that the impact of thoughts on subsequent self-evaluations was greater for those feeling more threatened by COVID-19. Study 3 conceptually replicated the results using a full experimental design by manipulating both thought favourability andthe perceived COVID-19 threat, moving from the self to a social perception paradigm, and providing mediational evidence for the proposed mechanism of compensatory thought validation. A final study addressed some alternative explanations by testing whether the induction of threat used in Study 3 affected perceptions of threat while not having an impact on other featuresMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación, Gobierno de España (ES), Grant/Award Number: PID2020-116651GB-C31;PID2020- 116651GBC33/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; Consejería de Ciencia, Universidades e Innovación, Comunidad de Madrid, Grant/Award Number: SI3/PJI/2021-0047

Cambio de actitudes automáticas: determinantes, procesos y consecuencias

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Psicología Social y Metodología, Fecha de lectura: Abril de 200

Los efectos de la activación de estereotipos sobre la evaluación de candidatos en un contexto experimental de selección de personal

Most people want to be (and be seem) rational and objective when making decisions, particularly in professional domains. However, a large number of irrelevant factors can bias judgments and behaviors. The present research reveals that attitudes toward potential job candidates can be influenced by stereotype activation in an experimental context. Specifically, participants were asked to complete words related to the stereotype of businessman or to the stereotype of skinhead prior to receiving ambiguous information about a fictitious job candidate. As predicted, attitudes and perceptions toward the candidate were more favorable in the former than in the later priming condition. Possible underlying psychological mechanisms and strategies for bias reduction are discussed.La mayoría de las personas quieren ser (y parecer) racionales y objetivas a la hora de tomar decisiones, sobre todo en contextos profesionales. Sin embargo, multitud de variables aparentemente irrelevantes pueden sesgar los juicios y los comportamientos de las personas. La presente investigación demuestra que la evaluación de un potencial candidato a un puesto de trabajo en un contexto experimental de selección de personal puede verse influida por la activación previa de estereotipos. En concreto, se pidió a un grupo de participantes que completaran palabras relacionadas con el estereotipo de ejecutivo o de skinhead (cabeza rapada) y, a continuación, se presentó una información ambigua sobre un supuesto candidato a un puesto de trabajo. Tal y como se esperaba, las actitudes y valoraciones hacia el candidato fueron más favorables en el primer caso. En el presente trabajo se discuten los posibles procesos psicológicos subyacentes a este efecto, así como las estrategias de control mental que pueden ayudar a reducir este tipo de sesgos