Emotional reactions toward procedural fairness as a function of negative information.
- The Journal of Social Psychology December 1, 2003
- De Cremer, David ; Ruiter, Robert A.C. | Copyright information
more weight and importance to negative information than to positive information, because negative information is more diagnostic in impression...Carlston, 1989), and that negative information stands out as a figure in people...
http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9910a&L=aejmc&P=15000
Candidate-sponsored negative ads are thought to be more persuasive than
positive ads. First, negative ads are influential because they are more likely
to be noticed and processed. This position is explained by the theoretical
construct of negativity, with its origins in the information processing
literature. It maintains that negative information stands out and, therefore, is
much more likely to be noticed and processed (Anderson, 1974; Fiske, 1980;
Hamilton & Huffman, 1971; Hodges, 1974; Jordan, 1965; Levin & Schmidt, 1969; Miller & Rowe, 1967; Warr & Jackson, 1976; Wyer, 1970). As Fiske (1980) notes, "negative cues stand
out [and are more informative] by virtue of being rare" (p. 904). Kellermann's
(1984) synthesis of the negativity literature provides support for the
negativity construct. She concludes that negative information "is weighted more
heavily than positive information in the initial formation of impressions, [and
it] exhibits a greater capacity to alter existing impressions" (pp. 37-38).
