TY - JOUR
T1 - When less is more and more is less
T2 - The paradoxical metacognitive effects of counterarguing
AU - Walter, Nathan
AU - Cohen, Jonathan
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and the Department of Communication at the University of Haifa, Israel. The authors would like to thank David Ben-Chetrit, the coder who helped make this project possible. In addition, they would like to thank Tamara Afifi and four anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and guidance throughout the review process.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and the Department of Communication at the University of Haifa, Israel.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 National Communication Association.
PY - 2019/7/3
Y1 - 2019/7/3
N2 - According to the cognitive perspective, the generation of counterarguments is a key obstacle to persuasion. Following the metacognitive view, however, the experience of difficulty that accompanies increased counterarguing may benefit persuasion. These two contrasting predictions were evaluated in two experiments (N1 = 392; N2 = 210) by manipulating the instructions of thought-listing tasks following exposure to a testimonial that advocated for Physician-Assisted Suicide. Results for participants low-in-NfC supported the cognitive prediction, whereby generating many counterarguments (7) led to less favorable attitudes toward PAS, whereas fewer counterarguments (2) engendered more positive attitudes. In contrast, among participants high in NfC, increased counterarguing (7) resulted in more favorable attitudes toward PAS, while fewer counterarguments (2) were translated into greater opposition.
AB - According to the cognitive perspective, the generation of counterarguments is a key obstacle to persuasion. Following the metacognitive view, however, the experience of difficulty that accompanies increased counterarguing may benefit persuasion. These two contrasting predictions were evaluated in two experiments (N1 = 392; N2 = 210) by manipulating the instructions of thought-listing tasks following exposure to a testimonial that advocated for Physician-Assisted Suicide. Results for participants low-in-NfC supported the cognitive prediction, whereby generating many counterarguments (7) led to less favorable attitudes toward PAS, whereas fewer counterarguments (2) engendered more positive attitudes. In contrast, among participants high in NfC, increased counterarguing (7) resulted in more favorable attitudes toward PAS, while fewer counterarguments (2) were translated into greater opposition.
KW - Persuasion
KW - counterarguing
KW - metacognitions
KW - need-for-cognition
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U2 - 10.1080/03637751.2019.1580378
DO - 10.1080/03637751.2019.1580378
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85070261973
SN - 0363-7751
VL - 86
SP - 377
EP - 397
JO - Communication Monographs
JF - Communication Monographs
IS - 3
ER -
