Abstract
Evaluative response and certainty of its accuracy as a function of proportion of positive information
R. Singh
In two experiments, the law of attraction was tested in the realm of informational stimuli. Proportion of positive adjectives was varied in Experiments I and II using a between- (N=54) and a within-subjects (N=40) design, respectively. Subjects indicated their attraction toward and favorability of impression of the described person, and then expressed their certainty as to the accuracy of the impression. They also judged the consistency in the description. Results showed that the proportion parameter of the law can work reasonably well in the case of adjectival information, and that subjects make independent cognitive and evaluative responses to a stimulus. A supplementary experiment (N=36) indicated no effect of the number (5, 10, and 15) of items on any response measure.