The process of selective exposure: Why confirmatory information search weakens over time

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Abstract

The present research investigated whether the tendency to prefer decision-consistent to decision-inconsistent information after making a preliminary choice would vary during the sequential process of searching for additional pieces of decision-relevant information. Specifically, it was tested whether decision makers would be more confirmatory in their information evaluation and search at the commencement rather than end of an information search process. In fact, five studies revealed that participants exhibited stronger confirmatory tendencies in both information evaluation (Studies 2 and 5) and search (Studies 1, 3, and 4) immediately after making a preliminary decision compared to during the later stages of an information search process. With regard to the underlying mechanism, results further revealed that individuals appear to be more motivated to detect the best decision alternative at the beginning (as opposed to the end) of an information search process, which leads to increases in confirmatory information processing during these stages.

Introduction

When searching for new information, individuals often preferentially seek pieces of information which are consistent with their a priori decisions, attitudes, or viewpoints – a tendency that is called ‘confirmatory information search’ or ‘selective exposure’ (Festinger, 1957, Frey, 1986, Jonas et al., 2001). A wide range of studies have shown that selective exposure occurs in context of both individual (Frey, 1986, Jonas et al., 2001) and group decision making (Schulz-Hardt, Frey, Lüthgens, & Moscovici, 2000). It has been also observed in context of the stereotypes people hold (Johnston, 1996); self-serving conclusions they make (Holton & Pyszczynski, 1989); attitudes they hold (Lundgren & Prislin, 1998); and advices they give (Jonas & Frey, 2003). This tendency is an important psychological phenomenon in research on decision making, because it is often responsible for poor decision outcomes (e.g., Kray & Galinsky, 2003). An additional factor that is strongly related to the selective exposure effect (indeed being one of its most important determinants; Fischer et al., 2005, Fischer, Schulz-Hardt, et al., 2008, Schulz-Hardt et al., 2010) is that individuals evaluate information that is consistent with their own decision preferences more positively than that which is inconsistent with them (Ditto and Lopez, 1992, Greitemeyer et al., 2009). This can also prove a barrier to the revision of incorrect initial judgements, in both individual (Greitemeyer & Schulz-Hardt, 2003) and group settings (Greitemeyer, Schulz-Hardt, Brodbeck, & Frey, 2006).

Although there has been a great deal of research into selective exposure, knowledge about what happens within a specific information search sequence (incorporating the processes of information search and evaluation) is limited. Confirmatory information tendencies have mostly been treated as constant within a given information search process, and as a consequence, research has mostly focused on its final indicator, confirmation bias; regardless of whether these tendencies occurred early or late in the decision making process. The possibility of variations between different temporal stages of information evaluation and search has been only sparsely discussed and investigated. The present research proposes that the extent to which decision makers exhibit confirmatory information evaluation and search is stronger in the initial (rather than later) stages of a decision-relevant information search process. The effect of search stage upon the level of selectivity in information search is anticipated by both the classic defense-motivational (dissonance) approach (Frey, 1986) and the more recent, evaluation-based accuracy-motivational perspective (Fischer et al., 2005, Schulz-Hardt et al., 2010). Five studies tested this proposal: Studies 1, 3, and 4 looked at whether the effect could be found for confirmatory information search (selective exposure), whereas Studies 2 and 5 examined whether it would also hold for confirmatory information evaluation. In addition, Studies 2, 3, 4, and 5 additionally tested the motivational basis of the expected effect; that is, whether it is based on different levels of defense (Studies 2–4) or accuracy motivation (Study 5).

Section snippets

Theoretical perspectives

Empirical research on selective exposure has mainly been performed within the framework of dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957, Frey, 1986), which explains it through assuming processes related to defense motivation. Concretely, dissonance theory proposes that after making a decision, individuals experience cognitive dissonance due to the potential negative implications of the chosen decision alternative, and the potential positive implications of the non-chosen one. Because dissonance is

The present research: the process of information seeking in the classic selective exposure paradigm

Although many determinants of confirmatory information processing and search have been identified, there is still little knowledge about what happens within the sequential information search process in context of the classic dissonance theoretical information search paradigm. In other words, the process of information search has been handled like a black box where the final outcome (the overall intensity of the confirmation bias) has been assumed to occur at consistent strength throughout the

Study 1

Study 1 was designed to provide evidence that decision makers exhibit a stronger preference for decision-consistent information in the initial rather than later stages of an information search process. Participants made a preliminary consumer choice regarding purchasing one of two high-end cars, and were subsequently given the opportunity to read eight additional pieces of information, which could either support or undermine their selection. These eight pieces were presented in two blocks, with

Participants and design

Fifty-seven students (38 female and 18 male; one participant did not indicate her/his gender) aged between 19 and 34 years old (M = 22.54, SD = 2.85) from the University of Munich participated in the study exchange for course credit. Two participants were excluded from the analyses due to providing incomplete data. The study had a 2 (type of information: consistent vs. inconsistent) × 2 (stage of information search process: block 1 vs. block 2) design with repeated measures on both factors.

Material and procedure

As in

Check for effects of decision making

Initially, 38 participants preferred the BMW and 17 the Mercedes; in the final decision, 33 participants preferred the BMW and 22 the Mercedes. Eleven participants changed their initial decision preference during the information search process, with eight switching from BMW to Mercedes, and three from Mercedes to BMW. When the initial preference was included in the analysis of the factorial design, a significant three-way interaction was found between type of information, type of decision

Study 2

Using a different decision case, Study 2 investigated whether a similar effect would also occur for information evaluation, which is a crucial determinant of actual information search (Fischer et al., 2005, Fischer, Schulz-Hardt, et al., 2008, Schulz-Hardt et al., 2010). As in Study 1, participants were asked to make an initial decision, and were consequently exposed to four decision-consistent and four decision-inconsistent pieces of additional information. The information was presented in two

Participants and design

Twenty-nine participants (18 female and 11 male, ranging from 17 to 33 years of age; M = 24.52, SD = 4.31) from the University of Munich participated in the experiment, which had a 2 (type of information: consistent vs. inconsistent) × 2 (stage of information seeking process: block 1 vs. block 2) factorial design with repeated measures on both factors.

Material and procedure

After participants individually arrived at the experimental lab, they were asked to imagine the following situation: “You have had the idea of opening a

Results and discussion

Due to high inter-correlation between participants’ assessments of reliability and importance (r = .68, p < .001), these two evaluations were collapsed to form a new scale, entitled ‘perceived information quality’. This procedure is in line with previous research on biased information evaluation in context of the classic selective exposure research paradigm (see Fischer et al., 2005).

Study 3

The aim of Study 3 was twofold. Firstly, an accountability manipulation (derived from Simonson & Nye, 1992) was used in order to further clarify whether the observed effect was based on defense-motivational processes. Participants were assigned to one of two accountability conditions, with those in the high accountability condition being told both that they would need to explain their decision to the experimenter; and that their decision would be the basis for subsequent seminars at the

Participants and design

Forty-three students (33 female; 10 male) at the University of Munich (aged between 19 and 30 years old; M = 23.86, SD = 2.80) took part in exchange for course credit. The study consisted of a 2 (stage of information search process: block 1 vs. block 2) × 2 (type of information: decision-consistent vs. -inconsistent) × 2 (accountability: low vs. high) factorial design with repeated measures on the first and second factors.

Material and procedure

The study utilized the same decision case employed in Study 2; where participants

Check for material effects and manipulation

A 2 (type of information: consistent vs. inconsistent) × 2 (stage of information search process: block 1 vs. block 2) × 2 (order of presented information: order 1 vs. order 2) ANOVA revealed that order was not significantly associated with searching for consistent or inconsistent pieces of information, nor with the stage of decision making, all Fs < 1. The basic sequence effect reported below was still significant when order was controlled for in the overall analysis (p < .05). Thus, the results of the

Study 4

One problem in detecting the underlying psychological mechanism for the effect is that the available pieces of decision-relevant information are classified as decision-consistent or -inconsistent on the basis of the participants’ prior decision. Therefore, it cannot be said whether participants perceive decision-consistent information to be of higher quality because it is in line with their prior decision; whether they chose their decision alternative because they thought particularly deeply

Participants and design

In this study, 33 (21 female; 12 male) students at the University of Munich participated in exchange for course credit (ages ranged from 20 to 42 years; M = 25.12, SD = 4.81). The study consisted of a 2 (stage of information search process: block 1 vs. block 2) × 2 (type of information: consistent vs. inconsistent) × 2 (free choice: yes vs. no) factorial design with repeated measures on the first two factors.

Material and procedure

The study employed the same decision case as in Studies 2 and 3, which dealt with opening a diet

Check for effects of decision making

In the free choice condition, eleven participants initially chose the organic food idea; and 10 participants chose the diet one. Four participants changed their preference in the final decision (three from diet to organic, and one from organic to diet). No significant three-way interaction was found between type of initial decision, type of information, and stage of information search process, F < 1. The interaction between type of information and stage of information search was still marginally

Study 5

The final study investigated the evaluation-based accuracy-motivational account. From this theoretical perspective, it would be expected that differential levels of selectivity in information search as a function of stage of information search are mediated by varying levels of experienced decision importance. In the initial stages of an information search process, decision makers may experience higher levels of decision salience and thus decision importance (an indicator of accuracy motivation)

Participants and design

Twenty-seven (21 female; 6 male) students of the University of Munich participated in this study in exchange for course credit (ages ranged between 19 and 27 years; M = 21.96, SD = 1.79). Two participants had to be excluded from further analyses because of considerable amounts of missing data. The study consisted of a 2 (stage of information search process: block 1 vs. block 2) × 2 (type of information: consistent vs. inconsistent) factorial design with repeated measures on both factors.

Material and procedure

To increase

Check for effects of decision making

Initially, seven participants decided for a prolongation of the contract, and 18 against it. No participant changed his/her decision during the course of the experiment. However, a significant three-way interaction between type of decision, type of information, and stage of information evaluation was found, F(1, 23) = 11.06, p < .01, indicating that the effect was mainly due to the participants who decided against extending the contract.

Check for effects of fatigue

A paired samples t-test revealed that participants did not

General discussion

The present paper began by questioning whether individuals’ tendencies to prefer supporting to conflicting information after making decisions vary within the sequential process of information seeking. More specifically, it was asked whether decision makers would be more selective in their information search and evaluation at the beginning rather than end of an information search process. The results of five studies suggest that this expectation was justified: in the initial stages of

Theoretical and practical implications

On a theoretical level, the present studies provide further insight into the post-decision processing of decision-relevant information; with particular regard to whether the selectivity of information evaluation and search varies across the different temporal stages of its process. It has been shown that confirmatory information processing is especially strong at the beginning of a post-decision information evaluation and search process. In addition, it appears that defense-motivational

Limitations and future perspectives

On the basis of the present results, it can be reasonably confidently stated that the underlying psychological process is based on differences in accuracy motivation (i.e., perceived decision importance). However, possible alternative explanations for this effect remain. For example, in the later stages of information search, participants might experience a significant demand for considering counter-arguments (particularly if they expect to be asked further questions after the search). In

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