Search for Expectancy-Inconsistent Information Reduces Uncertainty Better: The Role of Cognitive Capacity.

Paweł Strojny,Agnieszka Strojny,Małgorzata Kossowska

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00395

Paweł Strojny, Agnieszka Strojny + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00395

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Abstract

Motivation and cognitive capacity are key factors in people’s everyday struggle with uncertainty. However, the exact nature of their interplay in various contexts still needs to be revealed. The presented paper reports on two experimental studies which aimed to examine the joint consequences of motivational and cognitive factors for preferences regarding incomplete information expansion. In Study 1 we demonstrate the interactional effect of motivation and cognitive capacity on information preference. High need for closure resulted in a stronger relative preference for expectancy-inconsistent information among non-depleted individuals, but the opposite among cognitively depleted ones. This effect was explained by the different informative value of questions in comparison to affirmative sentences and the potential possibility of assimilation of new information if it contradicts prior knowledge. In Study 2 we further investigated the obtained effect, showing that not only questions but also other kinds of incomplete information are subject to the same dependency. Our results support the expectation that, in face of incomplete information, motivation toward closure may be fulfilled efficiently by focusing on expectancy-inconsistent pieces of data. We discuss the obtained effect in the context of previous assumptions that high need for closure results in a simple processing style, advocating a more complex approach based on the character of the provided information.

Highlights

Some degree of uncertainty in our lives may be stimulating, too much of it could be uncomfortable, if it concerns self-uncertainty or uncertainty about matters that directly reflect on one’s self-concept (e.g., Frenkel-Brunswik, 1949; Gudykunst, 1985; Levine, 1985; Sorrentino and Short, 1986; Kruglanski, 2004; Mendes et al, 2007)
Some research has demonstrated that focusing on expectancyconsistent information allows individuals with high need for closure to navigate a stream of ambiguous information, most of which challenges their a priori expectancy (Driscoll et al, 1991; Dijksterhuis et al, 1996; Macrae and Bodenhausen, 2000; Skowronski et al, 2013)
As previous research focused on searching for information in the form of affirmative sentences, we focus on situations in which individuals search for information to be acquired

Summary

Introduction

Some degree of uncertainty in our lives may be stimulating, too much of it could be uncomfortable, if it concerns self-uncertainty or uncertainty about matters that directly reflect on one’s self-concept (e.g., Frenkel-Brunswik, 1949; Gudykunst, 1985; Levine, 1985; Sorrentino and Short, 1986; Kruglanski, 2004; Mendes et al, 2007). Inconsistent Information Reduces Uncertainty characteristics is the need for closure, described as the tendency to reduce the feeling of discomfort experienced in the face of cognitive uncertainty through the rapid formulation and brief validation of a hypothesis (Webster and Kruglanski, 1994). In our study we focus on the relationship between need for closure and preference for expectancy-inconsistent information as a strategy to reduce uncertainty. Since a person faced with incomplete information does not know in advance whether the full meaning of this information will be consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis under consideration, increased need for closure relates to a stronger tendency to prefer expectancy-inconsistent questions

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