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Publication
Confidence in the eye of the beholder : the influence of physical attractiveness on attitude confidence
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Physical attractiveness of a source influences attitudes regarding the attitudinal topic
covered in a message. The present thesis aims to test if this attribute is also capable of
influencing confidence on attitudes, i.e., the perceived amount of certainty on attitudes
towards a topic. We review the literature suggesting the multiplicity of effects of this
attribute on attitudes and attitude change, as it is with other persuasive variables, and built
on the relevance to approach the influence on attitude confidence. Recent research suggest
that judgments of confidence are sensitive to influence from the context, such as the
influence of attributes of the source of a message. As it is with attitudes, we test if attitude
confidence is sensitive to corrections processes based on the perceived relevance of the
source of the message. In this thesis, we test if the influence of physical attractiveness might
be dependent on the perception of this attribute as an unwanted source of bias. We start by
approaching its impact, as a feature of the source of a message, on judgments of attitude
confidence, and build on its relevance as a feature of the recipient of a message. In the first
set of studies we demonstrated that the presence of an attractive source, when unrelated
with the content of the message, decreases attitude confidence. We show that when asked
to report attitude confidence, people seem to correct for the potential influence of physical
attractiveness with consequential impact to attitude strength outcomes. In the second set of
studies we clarified the role of perceiving the message as contradictory to individuals’
attitudes for the emergence of our effects. Finally, the third set of studies conceptualize the
role of physical attractiveness as a self-evaluation from the recipient of the message. We
show that this self-evaluation is informative to judgments of attitude confidence, providing
an addition mechanism in which physical attractiveness in determining judgments of
attitude confidence. We discuss how our findings integrate and expand what was previously
known about the influence of physical attractiveness. We highlight the importance of
studying features capable of decreasing attitude confidence, regardless of the influence on
attitude change.
Description
Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos
necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Psicologia
na área de especialização de Psicologia Social apresentada no ISPA - Instituto
Universitário no ano de 2020.
Keywords
Confiança nas atitudes Atitudes Persuasão Atratividade física Correção Attitude confidence Attitudes Persuasion Physical attractiveness Correction