Emotion Decoding and Incidental Processing Fluency as Antecedents of Attitude Certainty
John V Petrocelli1, Melanie B Whitmire1
11 Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|September 15, 2017
Summary
Decoding emotions during attitude formation increases certainty and resistance to persuasion. This effect stems from incidental processing fluency, impacting how people form and change attitudes.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Attitude Research
Background:
- Attitude certainty is a key factor in attitude change resistance.
- Emotion decoding and processing fluency are potential antecedents of attitude certainty.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate emotion decoding and processing fluency as antecedents of attitude certainty and attitude change.
- To explore the mechanisms linking emotion decoding to attitude certainty and persuasion resistance.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Assessed attitude certainty and persuasion resistance after decoding different emotions (anger, happiness, sadness).
- Experiment 2: Manipulated emotion decoding, processing fluency diagnosticity, and gaze direction to test the role of incidental fluency.
- Experiment 3: Examined the influence of irrelevant stimulus processing fluency on attitude certainty and persuasion resistance.
Main Results:
- Decoding positive emotions (anger, happiness) led to greater attitude certainty and persuasion resistance compared to decoding sadness.
- Incidental processing fluency, not the emotion itself, mediated the link between emotion decoding and attitude certainty.
- Fluency in processing unrelated stimuli also enhanced attitude certainty and resistance to persuasion.
Conclusions:
- Emotion decoding influences attitude certainty through incidental processing fluency.
- Attitude certainty, enhanced by processing fluency, plays a crucial role in resisting persuasive appeals.
- Findings contribute to appraisal-based theories of attitude formation and change.
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