The Effect of Confidence on Selective Exposure: An Unresolved Dilemma

The purpose of the present experiment was to examine an exception Festinger proposed to the hypothesis of selective exposure: namely, that confident individuals will seek discrepant information in an attempt to reduce dissonance (2). Dissonance was induced by presenting subjects with evidence which...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of social psychology 1974-01, Vol.94 (1), p.65-69
Main Author: Schultz, Charles B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dilemmas
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Summary:The purpose of the present experiment was to examine an exception Festinger proposed to the hypothesis of selective exposure: namely, that confident individuals will seek discrepant information in an attempt to reduce dissonance (2). Dissonance was induced by presenting subjects with evidence which contradicted their beliefs, as well as evidence which lent support to them. Behavioral measures of selective exposure to and acquisition of discrepant information were obtained. In addition dogmatism was examined as a variable which may offset some of the effects of confidence on selective exposure. Although confidence was successfully induced, it had no effect on selective exposure. A tendency was obtained for high dogmatics to seek more discrepant information in the Low Confidence condition than in the High Confidence condition.
ISSN:0022-4545
1940-1183
DOI:10.1080/00224545.1974.9923183