Universität zu Köln

Posten, Ann-Christin and Mussweiler, Thomas (2017). That certain something! Focusing on similarities reduces judgmental uncertainty. Cognition, 165. S. 121 - 126. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. ISSN 1873-7838

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Abstract

Comparative thinking is an efficient cognitive strategy that reduces judgmental uncertainty. However, comparisons may be conducted with a focus on similarities or differences. Similarity-focused comparisons seem to facilitate information-transfer, which has been suggested to drive the uncertainty reducing effect of comparisons. This implies that similarity-focused comparisons reduce uncertainty more than dissimilarity-focused comparisons. Two experiments examine this assumption. In Study 1, a similarity-focus (compared to a difference-focus and a neutral control condition) increased judgmental certainty when the comparison was based on confident standard-knowledge. However, when the comparison was based on vague standard-knowledge the uncertainty-reducing effect diminished. Study 2 shows that a similarity-focus increases information-transfer and that a similarity-focus particularly enhanced certainty for judgments for which a standard-to-target information-transfer had occurred. These studies suggest that similarity-focused comparisons reduce judgmental uncertainty through the mechanism of information-transfer. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Posten, Ann-Christin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mussweiler, Thomas UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-224554
DOI:	10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.010
Journal or Publication Title:	Cognition
Volume:	165
Page Range:	S. 121 - 126
Date:	2017
Publisher:	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Place of Publication:	AMSTERDAM
ISSN:	1873-7838
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language CONCEPTUAL COMBINATION; STRUCTURAL ALIGNMENT; COMPARATIVE THINKING; ROUTINE STANDARDS; CONTRAST; ASSIMILATION; EFFICIENCY; FEATURES; COMMON Multiple languages Psychology, Experimental Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/22455