When you change your attitude about something, do you know why? Psychologists have argued that the inner workings of our minds are largely hidden away from us. One aspect of this is the surprising finding that people are often unaware when they have changed their attitudes....
When compared to a control group who were not involved in the further discussion, neither of the experimentally manipulated groups could accurately remember their original position. What they remembered as their 'original' opinion seemed to have been significantly warped by the experimental manipulation.
First those who were anti-bussing originally recalled their pre-manipulation position as being much more pro-bussing than it actually was. Even more impressively, those who were originally pro-bussing thought they were actually anti-bussing before the experiment. Their recall of their previous position had completely turned around.
Strangely, when asked what effect the discussion had had on their views, all the participants thought it hadn't significantly changed their views. If anything, they said, the discussion had just confirmed what they already thought.
Leave a comment