Documenting individual differences in the propensity to hold attitudes with certainty

DeMarree, K. G., Petty, R. E., Briñol, P., & Xia, J. (2020). Documenting individual differences in the propensity to hold attitudes with certainty. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(6), 1239–1265. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000241

Abstract: The certainty with which people hold their attitudes is an important consideration because attitudes held with certainty better predict judgment and behavior than attitudes held with doubt. However, little is known about whether people’s assessments of their certainty reflect a disposition to hold attitudes with confidence. Adapting methods used to document individual differences in people’s attitudes, the present research demonstrates that the certainty with which people hold any given attitude is in part a reflection of a relatively stable disposition. Across 5 studies and 6 samples (total N = 106,050), we demonstrate dispositional variability in attitude certainty and show that it is related to but distinct from confidence in other judgmental domains. We also demonstrate that dispositional attitude certainty may be useful in predicting certainty in newly formed evaluations (Study 3) and an important consequence of certainty—attitude-behavior correspondence (as indicated by reports of behavioral intentions and recent behavior; Study 4 and Student Sample in Study 5). Furthermore, we demonstrate that dispositional attitude certainty is relatively stable over time (Study 5). Results are discussed with respect to potential mechanisms and boundary conditions relating to dispositional attitude certainty, the implications of these individual differences for attitudes and persuasion, as well as the potential origins of dispositional attitude certainty.