Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
589218 
Journal Article 
The impact of affective and cognitive focus on attitude formation 
van den Berg, H; Manstead, ASR; van der Pligt, J; Wigboldus, DHJ 
2006 
Yes 
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
ISSN: 0022-1031
EISSN: 1096-0465 
42 
3 
373-379 
We examined the effects of unobtrusive affective and cognitive focus on attitude formation. To induce focus, participants worked on a word-search puzzle consisting of either affective (e.g., emotion) or cognitive (e.g., reasoning) words. They then read positive and negative affective and cognitive information about a new attitude object. In the affective focus condition, evaluations were more congruent with the valence of the affective information than they were in the cognitive focus condition, where evaluations were more congruent with the valence of the cognitive information than they were in the affective focus condition. Affective focus also resulted in enhanced recall of affective information. The effects on evaluations remained stable over time, whereas effects on memory disappeared. Finally, affective focus was associated with faster response times, suggesting enhanced accessibility of affect-based attitudes. The present research shows that an affective or cognitive focus leads to the formation of different attitudes. 
Focus; Attitudes; Attitude formation; Affect; Cognition; Memory; Accessibility