INVOLVEMENT AS A DERTERMINANT OF RESPONSE TO FAVORABLE AND UNFAVORABLE INFORMATION

IN HIGH-INVOLVEMENT (HI) CONDITIONS, S RECEIVED INFORMATION DISCREPANT FROM HIS BELIEF CONCERNING HIMSELF, WHILE IN LOW-INVOLVEMENT (LI) CONDITIONS, S RECEIVED INFORMATION DISCREPANT FROM HIS BELIEF CONCERNING ANOTHER PERSON. THE INFORMATION WAS DISCREPANT IN EITHER A FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE DIRECTION AND BY DIFFERING AMOUNTS, DEPENDING UPON THE DISCREPANCY CONDITIONS TO WHICH S WAS ASSIGNED. WHEN INFORMATION WAS UNFAVORABLE, HI SS CHANGED LESS TOWARD THE INFORMATION AND EVALUATED IT AS LESS ACCURATE THAN DID LI SS. THESE DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE BETWEEN HI AND LI CONDITIONS DID NOT EMERGE WHEN FAVORABLE INFORMATION WAS PRESENTED, EXCEPT ON 1 OF THE 2 MEASURES OF CHANGE EMPLOYED. WITH 1 OF THE CHANGE MEASURES, HIGH-SELF-ESTEEM (SE) SS IN THE HI CONDITIONS RESISTED CHANGE IN THE UNFAVORABLE DIRECTION MORE THAN DID LOW-SE SS, BUT CHANGED MORE IN THE FAVORABLE DIRECTION THAN DID LOW-SE SS. THE DATA WERE INTERPRETED IN TERMS OF THE CENTRALITY OF THE CONCEPT ACTIVATED BY THE DISCREPANT INFORMATION AND THE INCENTIVE VALUE OF THE INFORMATION FOR THE PERCEIVER. (30 REF.)