Browsing by Author "Santos, David"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Interrupting a joke validates thoughts and polarizes attitudes towards a recycling company.(International Journal of Social Psychology, 2018) Santos, David; Stavraki, María; Gandarillas Gutiérrez, Beatriz; Cancela, Ana; Briñol, PabloPositive emotions can validate either positive or negative thoughts. Previous research has demonstrated that people use their thoughts more when they recall past episodes of happiness and when they are induced to smile. This study was designed to evaluate whether a new induction of a happy mood (a joke) can influence thought use in response to a persuasive proposal. Two versions of the same joke were compared: a version that included an interruption before the punchline and another that did not include an interruption at that point. The aim was to examine whether this interruption increased or decreased the use of previously generated thoughts towards a persuasive communication. The results indicated that the participants who were interrupted before the punchline relied more on their own thoughts in forming their attitudes than did those who were in the control group. In consequence, an interruption during a pleasant experience (e.g., a joke) increased persuasion when thoughts were positive but decreased persuasion when thoughts were negative.Item Trait Aggressiveness Predicting Aggressive Behavior: The Moderating Role of Meta-Cognitive Certainty.(Aggressive Behavior, 2019) Santos, David; Briñol, Pablo; Petty, Richard E.; Gandarillas Gutiérrez, Beatriz; Mateos, RafaelResearch on aggression has benefitted from using individual-difference measures to predict aggressive behavior. Research on meta-cognition has recently identified that the predictive utility of individual-difference inventories can be improved by considering the certainty with which people hold their self-views. Merging these two frameworks, the present research examines whether assessing certainty in trait aggressiveness improves its ability to predict aggressive outcomes. Across two studies, participants reported their level of trait physical aggressiveness and the certainty with which they held their responses to the scale (predictor variables). Aggressive behavioral intentions (Study 1 and 2) and actual aggressive behavior (Study 2) were used as dependent measures. As hypothesized, results indicated that certainty moderated the effects of individual-differences in aggressiveness on both aggressive outcomes. Therefore, considering the certainty with which people hold their relevant traits can be useful for understanding aggression, and also for predicting the consistency between personality and behavior.