Open-minded Thinking Research Articles

Actively Open-Minded Thinking, Personality and Critical Thinking in Spanish Adolescents: A Correlational and Predictive Study

Actively Open-Minded Thinking, Personality and Critical Thinking in Spanish Adolescents: A Correlational and Predictive Study

Objectivity or Advocacy? The Ethics of the Scout Mindset in Psychoeducational Assessment.

Psychologists often act as advocates when conducting diagnostic evaluations, using their reports as a way to assist clients in achieving their goals. At times, this comes at the expense of objectivity. The “soldier” and “scout” mindsets are useful metaphors for biased and unbiased reasoning, respectively, and they apply well to the practice of conducting psychological evaluations. Psychologists face several strong incentives for adopting a soldier mindset, but these can lead to unethical practices. Cultivating a scout mindset of actively open-minded thinking, in which a wide variety of assessment data are obtained, considered fairly and in an evenhanded manner, and presented with appropriate degrees of confidence, is critical for ethical psychological evaluations. There are certain types of advocacy that can coexist with such practices, but any attempts at advocacy must respect objectivity as a higher goal.

What about being a feminist is protective? An examination of constructs related to feminist beliefs as moderators of the relationship between media awareness and thin-ideal internalization

Feminist beliefs have been identified as a potential protective factor in the relationship between media awareness and thin-ideal internalization; however, the precise reason why feminist beliefs serve this role is unclear. A series of three studies examined the reasons why feminist beliefs may be protective in non-student samples, considering as possible explanations open-minded thinking, critical thinking, and media attitudes and literacy. Study 1 showed that the moderating role of feminist beliefs on the relationship between media awareness and thin-ideal internalization held in a non-undergraduate sample. Study 2 found that feminist beliefs and self-identifying as a feminist were related to open-minded thinking, critical thinking, and media attitudes and literacy. Study 3 found that most of these constructs did not serve the same moderating role as feminist beliefs. However, a complex relationship emerged when both feminist self-identification and media attitudes and literacy were considered simultaneously as moderators, adding to the literature emphasizing that self-identifying as a feminist has a protective role over and above that of merely holding feminist beliefs. These results suggest that feminist beliefs may be a unique combination of these constructs or that there may be yet a different reason why feminist beliefs are protective against thin-ideal internalization.

Relationships between basic psychological needs and violent extremist attitudes: The mediating role of actively open-minded thinking

Relationships between basic psychological needs and violent extremist attitudes: The mediating role of actively open-minded thinking

Individual Differences in Personality Moderate the Effects of Perceived Group Deprivation on Violent Extremism: Evidence From a United Kingdom Nationally Representative Survey.

Numerous studies argue that perceived group deprivation is a risk factor for radicalization and violent extremism. Yet, the vast majority of individuals, who experience such circumstances do not become radicalized. By utilizing models with several interacting risk and protective factors, the present analysis specifies this relationship more concretely. In a large United Kingdom nationally representative survey (n = 1,500), we examine the effects of group-based relative deprivation on violent extremist attitudes and violent extremist intentions, and we test whether this relationship is contingent upon several individual differences in personality. The results show that stronger group-based injustices lead to increased support for and intentions to engage in violent extremism. However, some of the effects are much stronger for individuals who exhibit a stronger need for uniqueness and for status and who demonstrate higher levels of trait entitlement. Conversely, several effects are lessened for those individuals high in trait forgiveness, demonstrating a strong capacity for self-control and for those who are exerting critical as well as open-minded thinking styles, thus constituting buffering protective factors, which dampen the adverse effects of perceived group injustice on violent extremism. The results highlight the importance of considering (a) the interaction between individual dispositions and perceptions of contextual factors (b) the conditional and cumulative effects of various risk and protective factors and (c) the functional role of protective factors when risk factors are present. Collectively, these findings bring us one step closer to understanding who might be more vulnerable to violent extremism as well as how. Overall, the study suggests that preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) programs must take account of the constellation of multiple factors that interact with (and sometimes enable or disable) one another and which can be targeted in preventions strategies.

Actively Open-Minded Thinking, Bullshit Receptivity, and Susceptibility to Framing

Abstract. The framing effect occurs when different presentations of the same problem lead to predictably different preferences. The dual-process framework of higher cognition assumes that the effect violates rational principles, but alternative accounts and recent evidence have contested this interpretation. Contributing to this debate, we tested the dual-process assumption by investigating associations between susceptibility to framing and the willingness and ability to think in line with rational norms, conceptualized as actively open-minded thinking and pseudo-profound bullshit receptivity. We conducted two online studies among North American ( N = 259) and Bulgarian ( N = 248) university students and administered several framing problems within-subjects, presumably necessary for the associations to appear. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that susceptibility to framing was associated with decreased actively open-minded thinking and increased bullshit receptivity in both sites. Exploratory multi-group analyses demonstrated partial strong invariance and showed that the findings generalize across both sites in terms of direction and partially in terms of magnitude. These results broadly support the dual-process account of the framing effect. Our study further contributes to adapting existing measures to a novel setting and expanding the findings across borders and populations.

Biased Estimates of Environmental Impact in the Negative Footprint Illusion: The Nature of Individual Variation.

People consistently act in ways that harm the environment, even when believing their actions are environmentally friendly. A case in point is a biased judgment termed the negative footprint illusion, which arises when people believe that the addition of “eco-friendly” items (e.g., environmentally certified houses) to conventional items (e.g., standard houses), reduces the total carbon footprint of the whole item-set, whereas the carbon footprint is, in fact, increased because eco-friendly items still contribute to the overall carbon footprint. Previous research suggests this illusion is the manifestation of an “averaging-bias.” We present two studies that explore whether people’s susceptibility to the negative footprint illusion is associated with individual differences in: (i) environment-specific reasoning dispositions measured in terms of compensatory green beliefs and environmental concerns; or (ii) general analytic reasoning dispositions measured in terms of actively open-minded thinking, avoidance of impulsivity and reflective reasoning (indexed using the Cognitive Reflection Test; CRT). A negative footprint illusion was demonstrated when participants rated the carbon footprint of conventional buildings combined with eco-friendly buildings (Study 1 and 2) and conventional cars combined with eco-friendly cars (Study 2). However, the illusion was not identified in participants’ ratings of the carbon footprint of apples (Study 1 and 2). In Studies 1 and 2, environment-specific dispositions were found to be unrelated to the negative footprint illusion. Regarding reflective thinking dispositions, reduced susceptibility to the negative footprint illusion was only associated with actively open-minded thinking measured on a 7-item scale (Study 1) and 17-item scale (Study 2). Our findings provide partial support for the existence of a negative footprint illusion and reveal a role of individual variation in reflective reasoning dispositions in accounting for a limited element of differential susceptibility to this illusion.

Normative responding on cognitive bias tasks: Some evidence for a weak rationality factor that is mostly explained by numeracy and actively open-minded thinking

We conducted two studies with two goals in mind. First, we investigated the dimensionality of several prominent cognitive bias tasks to see whether a single rationality factor can explain a performance on these tasks. Second, we validated this factor by correlating it with a number of constructs from its nomological network (fluid intelligence, numeracy, actively open-minded thinking, conspiracy and superstitious thinking, personality traits) and several real-life outcomes (decision-outcome inventory, job and career satisfaction, peer-rated decision-making quality). Although in both studies one-factor solution was the most appropriate for our tasks, this factor (i.e., “rationality factor”) was weak and only able to account for modest portion of variance among the tasks. Across both studies, the two strongest correlates of this rationality factor were numeracy and actively open-minded thinking. We conclude that cognitive bias tasks are highly heterogeneous, having very little in common. What they had in common, however, was largely underpinned by abilities and dispositions assessed with numeracy and actively open-minded thinking. We discuss how our findings relate to the dual-process theories and offer our view on the place of rationality in a broader model of human intelligence.

Policy for promoting analytic rigor in intelligence: professionals’ views and their psychological correlates

ABSTRACT Following significant intelligence failures, the United States intelligence community adopted Intelligence Community Directive 203 (ICD203) to promote analytic rigor. We developed two psychometric scales to examine how strongly intelligence professionals (N = 108) endorsed the analytic standards comprising ICD203 and how strongly they believed their organizations complied with these standards. All ICD203 facets were highly endorsed and clustered into three principal components, and perceived organizational compliance was high. Facets reflecting intelligence aims were endorsed more strongly than those reflecting means. ICD203 endorsement was positively related to conscientious and actively open-minded thinking, whereas perceived organizational compliance was positively correlated with conscientiousness, job satisfaction, and affective and normative commitment.

Testing cognitive and interpersonal asymmetry vs. symmetry among voters in the 2020 Presidential primaries

During the 2020 U.S. Presidential primary season, we measured candidate support and cognitive and interpersonal variables associated with political ideology among 831 U.S. participants. Cognitive style variables included openness to experience, active open-minded thinking, dogmatism, and preference for one right answer. Interpersonal variables were compassion and empathy. We modeled candidate support across the political spectrum, ranging from the most conservative to the most liberal (Trump, Bloomberg, Biden, Warren, Sanders), testing competing pre-registered predictions informed by the symmetry and asymmetry perspectives on political ideology. Specifically, we tested whether mean levels on the variables of interest across candidate supporters conformed to patterns consistent with symmetry (i.e., a curvilinear pattern with supporters of relatively extreme candidates being similar to each other relative to supporters of moderate candidates) vs. asymmetry (e.g., linear differences across supporters of liberal vs. conservative candidates). Results broadly supported the asymmetry perspective: Supporters of liberal candidates were generally lower on cognitive rigidity and higher on interpersonal warmth than supporters of conservative candidates. Results and implications are discussed.

COVID-19 as infodemic: The impact of political orientation and open-mindedness on the discernment of misinformation in WhatsApp

AbstractMessaging applications are changing the communication landscape in emerging countries. While offering speed and affordability, these solutions have also opened the way for the spread of misinformation. Aiming to better understand the dynamics of COVID-19 as infodemic, we asked Brazilian participants (n=1007) to report the perceived accuracy of 20 messages (10 true and 10 false). Each message was randomly presented within five fictitious WhatsApp group chats of varying political orientation. Correlational analyses revealed that right-wing participants had lower levels of truth discernment as did those with greater trust in social media as a reliable source of coronavirus information. Conversely, open-minded thinking about evidence and trust in the WHO and traditional media was positively associated with truth discernment. Familiarity with the content consistently increased perceived truthness for both true and false messages. Results point to the nefarious effects of COVID-19 politicization and underline the importance of promoting the ability to recognize and value new evidence as well as enhancing trust in international agencies and traditional media.

I Think, Therefore I Act: The Influence of Critical Reasoning Ability on Trust and Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Actively open‐minded thinking (AOT) operates in three dimensions: it serves as a norm accounting for how one should search for and use information in judgment and decision making; it is a thinking style that one may adopt in accordance with the norm; and it sets standards for evaluating the thinking of others, particularly the trustworthiness of sources that claim authority. With the first and third dimensions in mind, we explore how AOT influences trust in public health experts, risk perceptions, and compliance with recommended behaviors aimed at slowing the spread and severity of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of Americans (N = 857), we tested whether AOT will lead people to place greater trust public health experts (H1). Because these experts have been consistently messaging that COVID‐19 is a real and serious threat to public health, we also hypothesized that trust in experts would be positively associated with high perceived risk (H2), which should have a positive influence on (self‐reported) compliance with CDC recommendations (H3). And because AOT is a self‐directed thinking style, we also expected it to directly influence risk perceptions and, by extension, compliance (H4). Our results support all four hypotheses. We discuss the implications of these results for how risk communication and risk management efforts are designed and practiced.

Analytic Thinking and Political Orientation in the Corona Crisis.

With much unknown about the new coronavirus, the scientific consensus is that human hosts are crucial to its spread and reproduction—the more people behave like regular socializing beings they are, the more likely it is that the virus will propagate. Hence, many nations worldwide have mandated physical-distancing measures. In the current preregistered research, we focus on examining two factors that may help explain differences in adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors and policy support across different countries—political orientation and analytic thinking. We positioned our research within the dual-process framework of human reasoning and investigated the role of cognitive reflection, open-minded thinking, and political ideology in determining COVID-19 responsible behavior (physical distancing and maintaining hygiene) and support for restrictive COVID-19 policies on a sample of 12,490 participants from 17 countries. We have not been able to detect substantial relationships of political orientation with preventive behaviors and policy support, and overall found no reliable evidence of politicization, nor polarization regarding the issue. The results of structural equation modeling showed that the inclination towards COVID-19 preventive measures and their endorsement were defined primarily by the tendency of open-minded thinking. Specifically, open-minded thinking was shown to be a predictor of all three criteria—avoiding physical contact, maintaining physical hygiene, and supporting COVID-19 restrictive mitigation policies. Cognitive reflection was predictive of lesser adherence to stricter hygiene and only very weakly predictive of lesser policy support. Furthermore, there was no evidence of these effects varying across political contexts. The mediation analysis suggested a partial mediation effect of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs on the relationships of open-mindedness and cognitive reflection with physical distancing (but not adherence to stricter hygiene) and COVID-19 policy support, albeit very small and significant primarily due to sample size. There was also no evidence of these effects varying across political contexts. Finally, we have not been able to find strong evidence of political orientation modifying the relationship between analytical thinking and COVID-19 behaviors and policy support, although we explored the pattern of these effects in the US and Canadian samples for exploratory purposes and comparison with other similar studies.

The influence of thinking dispositions on integration and recall of multiple texts.

We investigated the association between thinking dispositions and two outcomes of multiple‐texts comprehension: integration of conflicting information in argumentative essays; and recall of inferential information as an index of deep comprehension. We focused on two thinking dispositions, need for cognition (NFC) and actively open‐minded thinking (AOT), as relevant individual differences in the processes involved in multiple‐texts comprehension. NFC is the tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitively demanding activities, whereas AOT is the tendency to rationally evaluate arguments and supporting evidence, without being influenced by biases from one's own prior beliefs and prior knowledge. 73 university students completed perceived topic knowledge, perceived exposure to argumentative writing, and perceived competence in argumentative writing, NFC and AOT questionnaires, read two contradictory texts, wrote an argumentative essay, and recalled the information read 1 month later. Argumentative essays were assessed by length and level of integration of conflicting perspective. Text recalls were assessed by number of valid inferences included. Research questions were investigated through a path analysis model. The path analysis model had a good fit. NFC was indirectly associated with argumentation quality of the essay via the essay length. AOT was directly associated with the inferences included in the recall task. The present study contributes to the literature on multiple‐texts comprehension by emphasizing the role of thinking dispositions.

Exploring the relationship between dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in HESD

PurposeHigher education is uncertain which sustainability-related education targets should be sought and monitored. Accepting that something needs to be measurable to be systematically improved, the authors explored how measures relate to potential targets. This paper aims to focus on dispositions to think critically (active open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking in appraising reasoning) as measures and explored how they related to sustainability concern as an indicative educational target.Design/methodology/approachThis research included the development and testing of research instruments (scales) that explored dispositions to critical thinking and sustainability concern. Authors researched these instruments within their own correspondence groups and tested them with university students and staff in Pakistan, the USA, Austria, India and New Zealand. The authors also asked a range of contextualising questions.FindingsRespondents’ disposition to aspects of active, open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking do predict their concern about facets of sustainability but their strength of religious belief was an important factor in these relationships and in their measurement.Practical implicationsThis research demonstrates the complexity of monitoring dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in educational systems, particularly in circumstances where the roles of religious beliefs are of interest; and suggests ways to address this complexity.Originality/valueThis research integrates and expands discourses on ESD and on critical thinking in diverse disciplines and cultures. It investigates measurement approaches and targets that could help higher education institutions to educate for sustainable development and to monitor their progress, in ways that are compatible with their culture and values.

Improving Gifted Talent Development Can Help Solve Multiple Consequential Real-World Problems.

Fully developing the talents of all students is a fundamental goal for personal well-being and development and ultimately for global societal innovation and flourishing. However, in this paper we focus on what we believe is an often neglected and underdeveloped population, that of the gifted. We draw from the cognitive aptitude and gifted education research literatures to make the case that solutions to consequential real-world problems can be greatly enhanced by more fully developing the talents of the intellectually gifted population, which we operationalize in this paper as roughly the top 5% of cognitive talent. Should well-supported high achievers choose to solve them, these problems span health, science, economic growth, and areas unforeseen. We draw from longitudinal research on intellectually precocious students and retrospective research on leaders and innovators in society, showing that mathematical, verbal, and spatial aptitudes are linked to societal innovation. We then discuss two remaining fundamental challenges: the identification of disadvantaged and marginalized groups of students who have traditionally been neglected in selection for gifted programming suited to their current developmental needs, and the building of skills beyond academic ones, specifically in the related areas of open-minded thinking and intellectual humility.

Age Differences in Open-Mindedness: From 18 to 87-Years of Age

ABSTRACT Background As health care improves and more people work into later age, it is important to understand what impacts open-mindedness has on decision-making. This paper examined the role of aging on open-mindedness. Methods Open-mindedness was measured across 12 studies before data amalgamation. The Actively Open-minded Thinking (AOT) scale and Actively Open-minded Thinking about Evidence (AOT-e) scale measured open-mindedness in this sample (n = 9010) of participants between 18 and 87-years of age. Results Summary AOT positively correlated with AOT-e (r = 0.27). For two subfactors derived from factor analysis based on the AOT, scores for both subfactors positively correlated with AOT-e (subfactor-1: r = 0.17/subfactor-2: r = 0.31) but negatively correlated with age (subfactor-1: r = −0.01/subfactor-2: r = −0.16). Age negatively correlated with both AOT (r = −0.11) and AOT-e (r = −0.13). Regressions revealed that open-mindedness decreased with aging. Age marginally predicted the change in open-mindedness, and sex differences were not a predictor. Conclusion It is proposed that the observed differences are the result of a reluctance to change long-established values and ideas at the cognitive level and cortical changes that occur with aging. In an aging population where more adults work into later age, the decrease in open-mindedness could influence many areas of judgments of decision-making. Importantly, this demonstrates that open-mindedness varies across lifespan.

Az új generációk szervezeten belüli helyzetének áttekintése egy megyei rendőrkapitányság példáján

Our organization is also affected by problems arising from the increasing presence of new generations in the labour market, such as differences in values, conflict situations and succession related difficulties. Therefore, a survey on the situation of new generations was carried out at the county police headquarters in the summer of 2020 (Tőzsér, 2020a). As part of this, an online questionnaire was conducted with the command staff (73 people) and the age group born from (after) 1 January 1990 (60 people). Both questionnaires included a structured interview part, but we also obtained quantifiable data - by evaluating 10 values from two perspectives. The results confirmed that there are large differences in terms of the perspective of the representatives of the older and younger generations. Young people are willing to meet only purposeful expectations that can be interpreted by them, and their loyalty is limited and based on reciprocity. Commander expectations for certain parameters, such as load capacity (resilience), may not prevail because they are not as important to young people. At the same time, leaders see the fast, efficient, and open-minded thinking of young people as an advantage. Overall, the study confirms the presence of a constant dynamic need for modernization within the organization.

The Development of Cognitive Reflection in China.

Cognitive reflection is the tendency to override an intuitive response so as to engage in the reflection necessary to derive a correct response. Here, we examine the emergence of cognitive reflection in a culture that values nonanalytic thinking styles, Chinese culture. We administered a child-friendly version of the cognitive reflection test, the CRT-D, to 130 adults and 111 school-age children in China and compared performance on the CRT-D to several measures of rational thinking (belief bias syllogisms, base rate sensitivity, denominator neglect, and other-side thinking) and normative thinking dispositions (actively open-minded thinking and need for cognition). The CRT-D was a significant predictor of rational thinking and normative thinking dispositions in both children and adults, as previously found in American samples. Adults' performance on the CRT-D correlated with their performance on the original CRT, and children's performance on the CRT-D predicted rational thinking and normative thinking dispositions even after adjusting for age. These results demonstrate that cognitive reflection, rational thinking, and normative thinking dispositions converge even in a culture that emphasizes holistic, nonanalytic reasoning.

Analiza postrzegania prawdziwości informacji wśród studentów – podobieństwo super fake newsów do prawdziwych wiadomości

Cel i hipoteza: przedmiotem badań prezentowanych w artykule jest postrzeganie prawdziwości fake newsów w zależności od sposobu ich definiowania: jako dezinformacji intencjonalnej (wąska definicja) lub niezamierzonej dezinformacji (szeroka definicja). U podstaw analizy leży hipoteza, zgodnie z którą fake newsy definiowane wąsko będą skuteczniej udawały prawdziwe wiadomości niż fake newsy definiowane szeroko, a zatem użytkownicy będą obie te grupy fake newsów postrzegać w różny sposób. Metody badań: metoda sondażu diagnostycznego, zawierającego skalę fake newsów, oraz psychologiczny pomiar poziomu analitycznego myślenia i aktywnie otwartego myślenia. Wyniki i wnioski: analiza udowadnia, że użytkownicy postrzegają prawdziwość fake newsów w dwojaki sposób: twarde fake newsy (fake newsy definiowane szeroko) są postrzegane jako mniej prawdziwe, a super fake newsy (fake newsy definiowane wąsko) są postrzegane jako bardziej prawdziwe. Ponadto, podczas gdy analityczne myślenie wpływa korzystnie jedynie na rozpoznawanie twardych fake newsów, to aktywnie otwarte myślenie chroni przed uwierzeniem zarówno w twarde, jak i super fake newsy. Wartość poznawcza: w artykule przedstawiono medioznawczo-psychologiczną analizę postrzegania prawdziwości różnych grup fake newsów i dzięki temu wskazano różne sposoby projektowania działań edukacyjnych w tym obszarze.