Holistic thinkers anchor less: Exploring the roles of self-construal and thinking styles in anchoring susceptibility

Abstract

Anchoring, whereby people's numerical judgments assimilate to previously considered values, is one of the most robust phenomena in experimental psychology, and previous efforts to identify individual differences in susceptibility to anchoring have met with little overall success. In this study (N=602), we explored the roles of self-construal and thinking styles in anchoring susceptibility. We hypothesized that interdependent self-construal and more holistic thinking would predict stronger anchoring, whereas independent self-construal would predict weaker anchoring. Contrary to our predictions, no relation emerged between self-construal and anchoring susceptibility, and people with a more holistic thinking style actually anchored less than people with a more analytic thinking style.