The Effects of Suppression on Attitude Strength

Abstract

Attitude strength was examined as a function of suppressing attitude-relevant thoughts in three studies. In line with the ironic process theory, it is proposed that attitude-related thought suppression should lead to stronger attitudes. In Study 1, attitude certainty and report-actual weight discrepancy were gauged using self-report. The participants who suppressed their positive thoughts about thinness subsequently indicated higher confidence of their attitude towards thinness in comparison to those who expressed the same thoughts. In addition, the suppressors reported weight that was significantly lighter than their measured weight, whereas the expressers reported relatively accurate weight. In Study 2, attitude strength was measured using two behavioral indicators: food voucher choice and passage choice. Those who suppressed their positive thoughts about thinness were more inclined to choose attitude-consistent options, healthier food and physically fitness passage, as compared to the expressers. In Study 3, automatic attitudes were examined using sequential priming procedure that assessed automatically activated attitudes. Positive automatic attitudes towards thinness and negative automatic attitudes towards fatness were shown to be stronger as a result of suppressing positive thoughts about thinness and negative thoughts about fatness respectively. Generally, all three studies confirmed the main hypothesis that suppressing attitude-relevant thoughts should strengthen the corresponding attitude.