Abstract
It was assumed that thought tends to make attitudes more extreme (by making relevant cognitions more consistent) and that dependence on another tends to focus one’s thoughts on that other. This lead to the predictions that attitudes toward an initially disliked other would become more negative as a function of opportunity for thought, dependence on other, and opportunity by dependence. Dissonance theory leads to an opposite prediction: Attitudes will become less negative as a function of opportunity, dependence, and opportunity by dependence. Although results were not completely consistent with either prediction, they were better accounted for by the first.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Sadler, O. & Tesser, A. Some effects of salience and time upon interpersonal hostility and attraction during social isolation. Sociometry, 1973, 36, 99–112.
Tesser, A. & Conlee, M. C. Some effects of time and thought on attitude polarization. Journal of Personalty & Social Psychology, in press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors are indebted to Chris Leone for his assistance in running Ss. This paper is sponsored by Robert M. Pollack, who takes full editorial responsibility for its contents.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tesser, A., Johnson, R. Dependence and thought as determinants of interpersonal hostility. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 4, 428–430 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336744
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336744