Biased Processing as a Function of Attitude Accessibility: Making Objective Judgments Subjectively

• Published in: Social cognition Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 51 - 66
• Main Authors: Houston, David A., Fazio, Russell H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Guilford 01.03.1989; Guilford Press
• Subjects: Behavior. Attitude; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social psychology; Social environment; Human; Social perception; Attitude; Behavior; Objectivity subjectivity; Judgment
• ISSN: 0278-016X; 1943-2798
• DOI: 10.1521/soco.1989.7.1.51

The effect of attitude accessibility on the evaluation of attitude relevant information was examined. In Experiment 1, attitudes toward a contemporary public issue (capital punishment) and the accessibility of those attitudes, as indicated by latency of response to the attitudinal inquiry, were measured. Attitude accessibility was found to moderate the extent of the relation between attitudes and judgments of such information. Biased processing was more evident for individuals with highly accessible attitudes than for those with less accessible attitudes. Experiment 2 tested the causal role of attitude accessibility. Accessibility was manipulated by having subjects express their attitudes either a single time (low accessibility) or repeatedly (high accessibility). As in Experiment 1, attitude accessibility moderated the relation between attitudes and judgments. The implications of these findings for the processing of attitude-relevant information and attitude stability over time are discussed.