Thought confidence as a determinant of persuasion: The self-validation hypothesis.

TLDR

Previous research has identified two key dimensions of thinking that influence persuasion: the amount of thinking and the valence of issue‑relevant thoughts. The authors investigated whether a meta‑cognitive factor—confidence in one’s own thoughts—also shapes persuasive outcomes. Four experimental studies were conducted to test how thought confidence affects the degree of persuasion. The results indicate that higher confidence in positive thoughts enhances persuasion, higher confidence in negative thoughts diminishes it, the attitude‑thought relationship scales with confidence, and these self‑validation effects are most pronounced during high information‑processing situations.

Abstract

Previous research in the domain of attitude change has described 2 primary dimensions of thinking that impact persuasion processes and outcomes: the extent (amount) of thinking and the direction (valence) of issue-relevant thought. The authors examined the possibility that another, more meta-cognitive aspect of thinking is also important-the degree of confidence people have in their own thoughts. Four studies test the notion that thought confidence affects the extent of persuasion. When positive thoughts dominate in response to a message, increasing confidence in those thoughts increases persuasion, but when negative thoughts dominate, increasing confidence decreases persuasion. In addition, using self-reported and manipulated thought confidence in separate studies, the authors provide evidence that the magnitude of the attitude-thought relationship depends on the confidence people have in their thoughts. Finally, the authors also show that these self-validation effects are most likely in situations that foster high amounts of information processing activity.