Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigation
Next article
Original Article

No Evidence for Ideological Asymmetry in Dissonance Avoidance

Unsuccessful Close and Conceptual Replications of Nam, Jost, and van Bavel (2013)

Published Online:May 05, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000300

Abstract

Abstract.Nam, Jost, and van Bavel (2013) found that conservatives were more likely than liberals to avoid dissonance-arousing situations (viz., writing counter-attitudinal essays in a high-choice situation). A close replication of this original research was unsuccessful, as both liberals and conservatives avoided writing counter-attitudinal essays to similar degrees. We conducted an additional experiment that aimed to conceptually replicate Nam et al. (2013), and to examine whether people whose ideology is threatened might be more likely to avoid dissonance-arousing situations. Again, liberals and conservatives were equally likely to avoid writing counter-attitudinal essays. Threat had no effect on these decisions. A meta-analysis of Nam et al.’s (2013) two studies, the two studies presently reported, and a third supplemental study provide no evidence for asymmetry in dissonance avoidance.

References

  • Altemeyer, B. (1998). The other “authoritarian personality”. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 47–92. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60382-2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bakshy, E., Messing, S. & Adamic, L. (2015). Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science, 348, 1130–1132. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa1160 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Barberá, P., Jost, J. T., Nagler, J., Tucker, J. A. & Bonneau, R. (2015). Tweeting from left to right: Is online political communication more than an echo chamber? Psychological Science, 26, 1531–1542. doi: 10.1177/0956797615594620 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brandt, M. J., Chambers, J. R., Crawford, J. T., Wetherell, G. & Reyna, C. (2015). Bounded openness: The effect of openness to experience on intolerance is moderated by target group conventionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 549–568. doi: 10.1037/pspp0000055 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brandt, M. J., Wetherell, G. & Reyna, C. (2014). Liberals and conservatives can show similarities in negativity bias. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37, 307–308. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X13002513 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bullock, J. G. (2011). Elite influence on public opinion in an informed electorate. American Political Science Review, 105, 496–515. doi: 10.1017/S0003055411000165 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carney, D. R., Jost, J. T., Gosling, S. D. & Potter, J. (2008). The secret lives of liberals and conservatives: Personality profiles, interaction styles, and the things they leave behind. Political Psychology, 29, 807–840. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00668.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Charney, E. (2015). Liberal bias and the five-factor model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38, e139. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X14001174 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chirumbolo, A. (2002). The relationship between need for cognitive closure and political orientation: The mediating role of authoritarianism. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 603–610. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00668.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cialdini, R. B., Trost, M. R. & Newsom, J. T. (1995). Preference for consistency: The development of a valid measure and the discovery of surprising behavioral implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 318–328. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Conway, L. G., Gornick, L. J., Houck, S. C., Anderson, C., Stockert, J., Sessoms, D. & McCue, K. (2016). Are conservatives really more simple-minded than liberals? The domain specificity of complex thinking. Political Psychology, 37, 777–798. doi: 10.1111/pops.12304 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dodd, M. D., Balzer, A., Jacobs, C. M., Gruszczynski, M. W., Smith, K. B. & Hibbing, J. R. (2012). The political left rolls with the good and the political right confronts the bad: Connecting physiology and cognition to preferences. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367, 640–649. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0268 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Federico, C. M. (2007). Expertise, evaluative motivation, and the structure of citizens’ ideological commitments. Political Psychology, 28, 535–561. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2007.00589.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Festinger, L. A. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Festinger, L. A. & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203–210. doi: 10.1037/h0041593 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Frimer, J. A., Gaucher, D. & Schaefer, N. K. (2014). Political conservatives’ affinity for obedience to authority is loyal, not blind. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 1205–1214. doi: 10.1177/0146167214538672 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Garrett, R. K. (2009). Politically motivated reinforcement seeking: Reframing the selective exposure debate. Journal of Communication, 59, 676–699. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01452.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gauchat, G. (2012). Politicization of science in the public sphere: A study of public trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010. American Sociological Review, 77, 167–187. doi: 10.1177/0146167214538672 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J. & Swann, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504–528. doi: 10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00046-1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gross, N., Medvetz, T. & Russell, R. (2011). The contemporary American conservative movement. Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 325–354. doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150050 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gruenfeld, D. H. (1995). Status, ideology, and integrative complexity on the US Supreme Court: Rethinking the politics of political decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 5–20. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.68.1.5 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hanson, D. J. (1989). Political bias in the Dogmatism Scale: An item analysis. The Journal of Social Psychology, 129, 117–118. doi: 10.1080/00224545.1989.9711707 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Harmon-Jones, E. & Harmon-Jones, C. (2007). Cognitive dissonance theory after 50 years of development. Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 38, 7–16. doi: 10.1024/0044-3514.38.1.7 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Hibbing, J. R., Smith, K. B. & Alford, J. R. (2013). Predisposed: Liberals the biology of political differences. New York, NY: Routledge. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hibbing, J. R., Smith, K. B. & Alford, J. R. (2014). Differences in negativity bias underlie variations in political ideology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37, 297–307. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X13001192 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Houghton, D. C. & Grewal, R. (2000). Please, let’s get an answer – any answer: Need for consumer cognitive closure. Psychology & Marketing, 17, 911–934. doi: 10.1002/1520-6793(200011)17:11 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Inbar, Y. & Lammers, J. (2012). Political diversity in social and personality psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 496–503. doi: 10.1177/1745691612448792 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Iyengar, S., Hahn, K. S., Krosnick, J. A. & Walker, J. (2008). Selective exposure to campaign communication: The role of anticipated agreement and issue public membership. Journal of Politics, 70, 186–200. doi: 10.1017/S0022381607080139 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jarvis, W. B. G. & Petty, R. E. (1996). The need to evaluate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 172–194. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.172 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jost, J. T., Federico, C. M. & Napier, J. L. (2009). Political ideology: Its structure, functions, and elective affinities. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 307–337. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163600 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jost, J. T., Federico, C. M. & Napier, J. L. (2013). Political ideologies and their social psychological functions. In M. FreedonL. T. SargentM. StearsEds., The Oxford handbook of political ideologies (pp. 232–250). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W. & Sulloway, F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 339–375. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.339 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jost, J. T., Krochik, M., Gaucher, D. & Hennes, E. P. (2009). Can a psychological theory of ideological differences explain contextual variability in the contents of political attitudes? Psychological Inquiry, 20, 183–188. doi: 10.1080/10478400903088908 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kahan, D. M. (2012, February 14). Mooney’s revenge?! Is there “asymmetry” in Motivated Numeracy? Retrieved from http://www.culturalcognition.net/blog/2013/10/10/mooneys-revenge-is-there-asymmetry-in-motivated-numeracy.html. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kahan, D. M. (2013). Ideology, motivated reasoning, and cognitive reflection: An experimental study. Judgment and Decision Making, 8, 407–424. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2182588 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kosloff, S., Greenberg, J., Weise, D. & Solomon, S. (2010). The effects of mortality salience on political preferences: The roles of charisma and political orientation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 139–145. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.09.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lavine, H., Lodge, M. & Freitas, K. (2005). Threat, authoritarianism, and selective exposure to information. Political Psychology, 26, 219–244. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2005.00416.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • MacCoun, R. J. & Paletz, S. (2009). Citizens’ perceptions of ideological bias in research on public policy controversies. Political Psychology, 30, 43–65. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00680.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Malka, A., Soto, C. J., Inzlicht, M. & Lelkes, Y. (2014). Do needs for security and certainty predict cultural and economic conservatism? A cross-national analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 1031–1051. doi: 10.1037/a0036170 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mandel, D. R. & Omorogbe, P. (2013). Political differences in past, present, and future life satisfaction: republicans are more sensitive than democrats to political climate. PloS One, 9, e98854. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098854 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nam, H. H., Jost, J. T. & van Bavel, J. J. (2013). “Not for all the tea in China!” Political ideology and the avoidance of dissonance-arousing situations. PloS One, 8, e59837. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059837 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nyhan, B. & Reifler, J. (2010). When corrections fail: The persistence of political misperceptions. Political Behavior, 32, 303–330. doi: 10.1007/s11109-010-9112-2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Oxley, D. R., Smith, K. B., Alford, J. R., Hibbing, M. V., Miller, J. L., Scalora, M., … Hibbing, J. R. (2008). Political attitudes vary with physiological traits. Science, 321, 1667–1670. doi: 10.1126/science.1157627 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Parrott, G. & Brown, L. (1972). Political bias in the Rokeach dogmatism scale. Psychological Reports, 30, 805–806. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1972.30.3.805 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Petersen, M. B., Skov, M., Serritzlew, S. & Ramsøy, T. (2013). Motivated reasoning and political parties: Evidence for increased processing in the face of party cues. Political Behavior, 35, 831–854. doi: 10.1007/s11109-012-9213-1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pew Research Center. (2014, June 26). Beyond red vs. blue: The political typology. Retrieved from http://www.people-press.org/files/2014/06/6-26-14-Political-Typology-release.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rammstedt, B. & John, O. P. (2007). Measuring personality in one minute or less: A 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 203–212. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reicher, S. D., Haslam, S. A. & Smith, J. R. (2012). Working toward the experimenter reconceptualizing obedience within the Milgram paradigm as identification-based followership. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 315–324. doi: 10.1177/1745691612448482 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sears, D. O. & Freedman, J. L. (1967). Selective exposure to information: A critical review. Public Opinion Quarterly, 31, 194–213. doi: 10.1086/267513 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sibley, C. G. & Duckitt, J. (2008). Personality and prejudice: A meta-analysis and theoretical review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 248–279. doi: 10.1177/1088868308319226 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sibley, C. G., Osborne, D. & Duckitt, J. (2012). Personality and political orientation: Meta-analysis and test of a Threat-Constraint Model. Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 664–677. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2012.08.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Simonsohn, U. (2015). Small telescopes: Detectability and the evaluation of replication results. Psychological Science, 26, 559–569. doi: 10.1177/0956797614567341 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sleegers, W. W., Proulx, T. & van Beest, I. (2015). Extremism reduces conflict arousal and increases values affirmation in response to meaning violations. Biological Psychology, 108, 126–131. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.03.012 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Smith, K. B., Oxley, D. R., Hibbing, M. V., Alford, J. R. & Hibbing, J. R. (2011). Linking genetics and political attitudes: Reconceptualizing political ideology. Political Psychology, 32, 369–397. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2010.00821.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Taber, C. S. & Lodge, M. (2006). Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs. American Journal of Political Science, 50, 755–769. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00214.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Vail, K. E., Arndt, J., Motyl, M. & Pyszczynski, T. (2012). The aftermath of destruction: Images of destroyed buildings increase support for war, dogmatism, and death thought accessibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 1069–1081. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.05.004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Van Hiel, A., Kossowska, M. & Mervielde, I. (2000). The relationship between openness to experience and political ideology. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 741–751. doi: 10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00135-X First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Viechtbauer, W. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. Journal of Statistical Software, 36, 1–48. doi: 10.18637/jss.v036.i03 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Webster, D. M. & Kruglanski, A. W. (1994). Individual differences in need for cognitive closure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1049–1062. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1049 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wilson, G. D. & Patterson, J. R. (1968). A new measure of conservatism. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 7, 264–269. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1968.tb00568.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar