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The Relationship Between Political Preference and Judgments of President Clinton's Integrity Depends on Cognitive Complexity 1
Author(s) -
Sigall Harold,
Johnson Mark B.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1998.tb01686.x
Subject(s) - preference , psychology , cognitive complexity , politics , cognition , social psychology , political science , law , neuroscience , economics , microeconomics
Participants who varied in cognitive complexity and political preference for President Clinton read a brief news account of an episode in which the President was said to have altered his behavior when he realized it was public. They then evaluated him. In 2 studies, participants low in cognitive complexity and positively disposed toward President Clinton rated his integrity as higher, whereas those negatively disposed gave him lower ratings. Participants higher in cognitive complexity, regardless of their political preference, made more moderate judgments of his integrity. This pattern was not observed for ratings of Clinton's sensitivity, social skillfulness, or work ethic. The role of cognitive complexity in integrating seemingly inconsistent behavior is discussed.