Lateral attitude change: Stalking the elusive displacement effect

Abstract

Recent theorizing (Glaser et al., 2015, Personality and Social Psychology Review) distinguishes two types of lateral attitude change (LAC): generalization, where explicit attitude change toward a focal object transfers to lateral (= related) objects, and displacement, where only lateral (but not focal) attitudes change. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that generalization versus displacement effects depend on acceptance versus rejection of focal attitude change. Participants (total n = 471) read positive and negative ratings of different products that served as focal attitude objects. Subsequent attitude change toward focal products generalized to lateral products as a function of similarity (Experiments 1-3) and of induced preference for consistency (Experiment. 3). However, manipulations designed to induce rejection of focal change by telling participants not to trust the information presented were not successful: Instead of displacement, they produced attenuated generalization (Experiments 1-3). Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.