TWO MODES OF INFORMATION SEEKING AND ACCEPTANCE IN THE JUDGMENTAL TASK SITUATION

Abstract

This study aims at an investigation of differences of information seeking and acceptance before and after the public expression of judgmental decision.
1138 high school students were divided into 16 conditions, which were composed of four indevariables. These variables were judgmental stage (before or after the public expression of judgment), communicator-communicatee similarity of attitude (similar or dissimilar), communicator-communicatee difference of cue information (same or different), and communicator-communicatee consistency of judgment (consistent or inconsistent). After the instruction about the communicator's attitude, cue information, and judgment, subjects rated their desire to read communicator's reasoning for his judgment. And after reading the reasoning, they rated their judgmental confidence.
The results were as follows;
(1) Before the public expression of judgment, there was no effect of judgmental consistency on information seeking. And under the conditions where attitude was similar, information from one who had different cue information was sought more than information from one who had the same cue information.
(2) After the public expression of judgment, inconsistent information was avoided under the conditions where communicator and communicatee had the same cue information and where their attitude was similar.
(3) By consistent information, judgmental confidence increased significantly when attitude was dissimilar before the public expression. But after the public expression, it increased significantly when attitude was simiar.
(4) By inconsistent information, judgmental confidence increased significantly when attitude was dissimilar before the public expression. But after the public expression, it decreased significantly only when communicator had the same cue information and attitude was similar.