Tagler, M. J. , Brown, E. A. , Chambers, A. M. , & Miadich, S. A Tagler, M. J., Brown, E. A., Chambers, A. M., & Miadich, S. A. (2010, April 30). Are Attitudes Toward Sleep Related to Sleep Habits? Presentation at the 2010 meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. Neural Evidence Supporting the Role of a Defensive Motivation in the Congeniality Bias: An Event-Related Potential Study Christopher L. Thomas, Michael J. Tagler, Ph.D, Barbara Furniss, Julie Matsen, Alyssa Spurling & Stephanie Simon-Dack, Ph.D. PURPOSE DISCUSSION RESULTS ABSTRACT Research in the realm of decision-making has suggested individuals often exhibit a postdecisional distortion of information known as the congeniality bias. Specifically, decision-makers often exhibit a systematic preference for information that is consistent with current attitudes, beliefs, and decisions (Hart et al., 2009). Some suggest the congeniality bias is the result of a defensive motivation to avoid the experience of cognitive dissonance, while others suggest the congeniality bias results from a motivation to make accurate decisions (Hart et al., 2009). Evidence exists supporting both the defensive motivation and accuracy motivation explanations for the congeniality bias (Hart et al., 2009). Therefore, the purpose of the current examination was to test propositions related to defensive motivation using event-related potential methodology In the classic conceptualization of cognitive dissonance theory, Festinger (1957) suggests the congeniality bias is the result of a defensive motivation to avoid feelings of cognitive dissonance. Specifically, cognitive dissonance theory predicts individuals will seek out decision consistent information while neglecting decision inconsistent information to maintain cognitive consistency (Festinger, 1957) . Our results support the role of a defensive motivation in the congeniality bias by suggesting individuals devote substantially more cognitive resources to processing decision consistent information during the decision making process. Specifically, results indicated decision consistent information obtained a global processing advantage beginning approximately 400 ms after stimulus onset which persisted until approximately 700 ms after stimulus onset. An examination of the congeniality bias used event-related potentials to assess the processing of decision-relevant information. Results support a role for defensive motivation, suggesting congenial information obtains a global processing advantage during the decision-making process. Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere Note: The left frontal cluster consisted of the F3, F5, and FC3 electrodes. The right frontal cluster consisted of F4, F6, and FC4 electrodes. The left parietal cluster consisted of the P5, P7, and PO7 electrodes. The right parietal cluster consisted of the The P6, P08, and P8 electrodes CONTACT To investigate patterns of neural activity, a within-subjects ANOVA was conducted with information consistency (Decision Consistent/Inconsistent Trait), cortical hemisphere (Left/Right), cortical region (Frontal/Parietal), and time window (300-400, 400-500, 500-600, 600-700,700-800ms) as factors. Results revealed a significant four-way interaction between consistency, cortical hemisphere, cortical region, and time window, F(4, 80) = 2.77, p <. 05, ηp2 = .12. To explore the significant interaction, a series of ANOVA’s were conducted exploring the effects of information consistency, cortical hemisphere, and cortical region for each of the identified time windows. Results revealed a main effect of information consistency within the 400 – 500, 500 – 600 and 600-700 ms time windows. Interestingly, follow-up analyses also revealed a significant three-way interaction between information consistency, cortical hemisphere, and cortical region during the 700-800 ms time window, F(1,20) = 5.45, p <. 05, ηp2 = 0.21, such that the mean amplitude observed when processing decision consistent information (M = 1.91 μV, SD = 0.69) was significantly greater than when processing decision inconsistent information (M = 0.41 μV, SD = 0.65) in the left hemisphere of the parietal region. Taken together these findings suggest more neural resources are devoted to processing decision consistent information throughout the decision-making process. FUTURE RESEARCH Christopher L. Thomas Dept. of Psychological Science Ball State University Muncie, IN 47304 clthomas2@bsu.edu Previous research has suggested message disfluency, or processing difficulty may reduce the strength of the congeniality bias (Hernandez & Preston, 2013). Future research could examine if message disfluency reduces the congeniality bias by altering the allocation of attentional resources during the decision making process. Procedure Introductory psychology students (N = 21, 81% female, 81% Caucasian) at a large Midwestern (U.S) university completed: A modified selective exposure paradigm while undergoing an EEG recording (Fischer et al., 2005) Participants made a preliminary decision to extend or terminate the employment contract of employees demonstrating mixed success in the workplace. Participants were shown positive and negative trait words and indicated if they would like to receive more information detailing how the employees demonstrate the presented traits to assist them in making a final decision at the conclusion of the experiment. ERPs were time-locked to the onset of the trait words. To Cite: Thomas, C. L., Tagler, M. J., Furniss, B., Matsen, J., Spurling, A., & Simon-Dack, S. (2015, May). Neural evidence supporting the role of a defensive motivation in the congeniality bias: An event-related potential study. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY. REFERENCES Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Fischer, P., Jonas, E., Frey, D., & Schulz-Hardt, S. (2005). Selective exposure to information: The impact of information limits. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 469-492. Hart, W., Albarracin, D., Eagly, A. H., Brechan, I., Lindberg, M. J., & Merrill, L. (2009). Feeling validated versus being correct: A meta-analysis of selective exposure to information. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 555-588. Hernandez, I., & Preston, J. L. (2013). Disfluency disrupts the confirmation bias. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(1), 178–182. Tagler, M. J., Brown, E. A., Chambers, A. M., & Miadich, S. A. (2010, April 30). Are Attitudes Toward Sleep Related to Sleep Habits? Presentation at the 2010 meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.