Kenneth Demarree

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York | SUNY Buffalo · Department of Psychology

The experience of attitudinal ambivalence (subjective ambivalence) is important because it predicts key consequences of attitudes (e.g., attitude-behavior correspondence, attitude stability). However, the field’s understanding of the antecedents of subjective ambivalence is still developing. We explore an unexamined antecedent of subjective ambival...

In this paper, we provide a brief review of prime-to-behavior effects and discuss our theoretical model for such effects: the Active-Self Account. We also address recent discussions in the literature regarding the replicability of prime-to-behavior effects and outline features that can affect their existence and the likelihood of detecting such eff...

Little research has examined the properties of people's attitudes that predict how they will respond to conflict with others whose opinions differ. We propose that one aspect of attitude certainty-attitude correctness, or the perception that one's attitude is the "right" attitude to have-will predict more competitive conflict styles. This hypothesi...

In this research, we examined a novel predictor of clarity in one's self-conceptions: discrepancies between actual and desired levels of self-esteem. Because people tend to desire high self-esteem, such discrepancies are generally larger among individuals low in self-esteem. Among college students (Study 1) and in a more diverse sample (Study 2), w...

High frequency heart rate variability (HRV) is a vagally-mediated physiological index reflecting parasympathetic activity that has been linked to emotion regulation capacity. However, very limited research has examined associations of physiological indices of regulation such as HRV with emotional functioning in daily life. The few studies that exis...

According to cognitive-dissonance theory, performing counterattitudinal behavior produces a state of dissonance that people are motivated to resolve, usually by changing their attitude to be in line with their behavior. One of the most popular experimental paradigms used to produce such attitude change is the induced-compliance paradigm. Despite it...

This research examines how people can defend themselves from the threat associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic by relying more on their recently generated thoughts (unrelated to the threat), thus leading those thoughts to have a greater impact on judgement through a meta‐cognitive process of thought validation. Study 1 revealed that the impact of th...

We review research on the role of high-quality listening behavior in attitude change. We examine how listening behaviors can impact attitudes and the mechanisms underlying these effects. The article discusses research that explicitly examines high-quality listening, as well as research that examines behaviors that may indicate high-quality listenin...

The recently developed Multidimensional Awareness Scale (MAS) consists of three subscales assessing individual differences in present-moment awareness of internal states (meta-awareness; MAS-MA), present-moment awareness of the external world (external awareness; MAS-EA), and in the adoption of a detached, observer perspective on one's current inte...

Decentering is thought to be protective against a range of psychological symptoms, but little is known about the outcomes of decentering as a momentary state in daily life. We used ecological momentary assessment (42 reports across 1 week) to examine the temporal ordering of the associations of decentering with affect, dysphoria, participant-specif...

Objectives The mindfulness-to-meaning theory (MMT) describes the processes through which mindfulness leads to enhanced eudaimonic wellbeing (indirectly via mediating processes such as increased decentering, reappraisal, positive affect, and savoring), but little is currently known about how these processes impact one another over short time periods...

Interpersonal contexts can be complex because they can involve two or more people who are interdependent, each of whom is pursuing both individual and shared goals. Interactions consist of individual and joint behaviors that evolve dynamically over time. Interactions are likely to affect people’s attitudes because the interpersonal context gives co...

Interpersonal contexts can be complex since they can involve two or more people who are interdependent, each of whom is pursuing both individual and shared goals. Interactions consist of individual and joint behaviors that evolve dynamically over time. Interactions are likely to affect people’s attitudes because the interpersonal context gives the...

Background: The present study analyzes how attitudes can polarize after reminders of death in the context of persuasion, and proposes that a meta-cognitive process (i.e., self-validation) can serve as a compensatory coping mechanism to deal with mortality salience. Method: Participants were first asked to read either a strong or a weak resume of...

How can we maximize what is learned from a replication study? In the creative destruction approach to replication, the original hypothesis is compared not only to the null hypothesis, but also to predictions derived from multiple alternative theoretical accounts of the phenomenon. To this end, new populations and measures are included in the design...

How can we maximize what is learned from a replication study? In the creative destruction approach to replication, the original hypothesis is compared not only to the null hypothesis, but also to predictions derived from multiple alternative theoretical accounts of the phenomenon. To this end, new populations and measures are included in the design...

How can we maximize what is learned from a replication study? In the creative destruction approach to replication, the original hypothesis is compared not only to the null hypothesis, but also to predictions derived from multiple alternative theoretical accounts of the phenomenon. To this end, new populations and measures are included in the design...

Decentering, a detached, observer perspective on one’s mental activity, is an important concept for understanding mental health. Meta-awareness, people’s awareness of their own current mental activity, is thought to facilitate decentering. However, trait measures of these concepts are not available or have validity concerns. We sought to create a t...

The certainty with which people hold their attitudes is an important consideration because attitudes held with certainty better predict judgment and behavior than attitudes held with doubt. However, little is known about whether people's assessments of their certainty reflect a disposition to hold attitudes with confidence. Adapting methods used to...

Decentering is a detached, observer perspective on one’s current mental contents. Recent work has identified two potential aspects of decentering, Observer Perspective (OP) and Reduced Struggle (RS), that independently predict the effects of decentering. Specifically, both OP and RS predict reduced psychological distress in response to negative aff...

Ambivalence is a mixed reaction toward an attitudinal object. Ambivalence is often viewed as aversive and people are motivated to reduce it. However, the presence of both strong positive and negative attitudes toward an object (objective ambivalence; OA) does not always lead to consciously experienced conflicted and torn feelings (subjective ambiva...

We examined how merely sharing attitudes with a good listener shapes speakers' attitudes. We predicted that high quality (i.e., empathic, attentive, and non-judgmental) listening reduces speakers’ social anxiety and leads them to delve deeper into their attitude relevant knowledge (greater self-awareness). This, in turn, differentially affects two...

Background: Previous research indicates that social anxiety (SA) is a risk factor for the maintenance and relapse of smoking behaviors. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. The current study tested the effects of state and trait levels of SA as well as smoking to cope with symptoms of SA on craving during a s...

We present the Credibility of Science Scale (CoSS), an efficient 6-item scale demonstrating excellent reliability and validity. CoSS scores exhibit criterion validity in predicting beliefs across a host of contemporary science topics, over and above previously documented predictors (Study 2). Further, we present evidence for the convergent and disc...

The current research examines factors that facilitate or undermine goal pursuit. Past research indicates that attempts to reduce self-uncertainty can result in increased goal motivation. We explore a critical boundary condition of this effect—the presence of alternative goals. Though self-regulatory processes usually keep interest in alternative go...

Theory on decentering—an observer perspective on one’s ongoing internal experiences—suggests that decentering may be a protective factor against extreme affective states in predicting psychopathology. The current studies were the first to empirically test this, using multiple measures of decentering to capture two distinct components. Across three...

Recent work suggests that in addition to actual attitudes, people often have desired attitudes that can vary in their congruence with their actual attitudes. We explored whether desired attitudes motivate goal-congruent outcomes by impacting people's evaluative responses over the effects of actual attitudes. Across four studies, we demonstrated tha...

We examine the structure and validity of existing measures of self-concept clarity (SCC). We document six different measurement strategies that have been employed in the self-concept clarity literature, review existing research on their relationships with each other and with self-esteem, and present in-progress research designed to examine their st...

In this chapter, we reflect on the chapters contained in this volume. We document several themes that emerged across multiple chapters. Themes apparent in the current self-concept clarity literature include the centrality of the person in context in understanding the origins and effects of self-concept clarity and the potential benefits of higher l...

This welcome resource traces the evolution of self-concept clarity and brings together diverse strands of research on this important and still-developing construct. Locating self-concept clarity within current models of personality, identity, and the self, expert contributors define the construct and its critical roles in both individual and collec...

Defusion and decentering are related constructs that describe an objective, distanced, and open approach toward one's internal experiences. These constructs are thought to play important protective roles in models of psychopathology, and several common therapeutic interventions include techniques to increase levels of defusion and decentering. Howe...

Actual–desired discrepancies in people’s self-concepts represent structural incongruities in their self-representations that can lead people to experience subjective conflict. Theory and research suggest that structural incongruities predict susceptibility to subtle influences like priming and conditioning. Although typically examined for their mot...

People tend to be overconfident when predicting their performance on a variety of physical and mental tasks (i.e., they predict they will perform better than they actually do). Such a pattern is commonly found in educational settings, in which many students greatly overestimate how well they will perform on exams. In particular, the lowest-performi...

Symposium

We argue that a person’s identity can be changed by seemingly irrelevant primes to the point where one expects to be treated as a member of an activated social group. We further argue that primes should only influence the self to the extent that they are seen as valid. We experimentally manipulated conditions that foster perceptions of prime validi...

Ambivalence, the presence of positive and negative reactions toward an object, typically involves the subjective experience of conflict. We investigate the role that the perceived validity of each side of an ambivalent attitude plays in producing subjective ambivalence (SA). Consistent with the metacognitive model of attitudes, we demonstrated that...

Research on political psychology has benefitted from using individual-difference measures to predict political attitudes and behavior. And, previous research has further identified a number of specific variables that enhance the predictive utility of individual-difference scales. However, a potentially important factor that has been overlooked is t...

Expectancies regarding the effects of various psychoactive substances are important predictors of the initiation and maintenance of substance use. Although measures of outcome expectancies exist for several addictive substances, there is currently no measure to assess smokeless tobacco (ST) expectancies in an adult population. This article presents...

Past research has found that primes can automatically initiate unconscious goal striving. Recent models of priming have suggested that this effect can be moderated by validation processes. According to a goal-validation perspective, primes should cause changes in one's motivational state to the extent people have confidence in the prime-related men...

Recent research has demonstrated that the self is subject to a variety of subtle influences. To date, however, little research has examined nonconscious factors that influence one's social identity. Unlike most self-conceptions, a person's social identity can be determined not only by the presence of one's own group, but also by the presence of a r...

Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence but has not uncovered features of the self-concept representation that make it susceptible to such change. Using research on attitude ambivalence as a foundation, the current article predicted that the self would be most likely to respond to a subtle cha...

The embodied simulation of smiles involves motor activity that often changes the perceivers' own emotional experience (e.g., smiling can make us feel happy). Although Niedenthal et al. mention this possibility, the psychological processes by which embodiment changes emotions and their consequences for processing other emotions are not discussed in...

The present research examines the accessibility of one's self-esteem as a predictor of the "strength" (durability and impactfulness) of that self-esteem. Based on attitude accessibility research, the authors predicted that accessibility of self-esteem (i.e., a self-attitude) would be positively related to self-esteem's ability to resist change and...

Recent research has explored how the activation of social constructs via priming can affect behavior. Multiple mechanisms have received support, including direct activation of behavioral representations, goal activation, biases in person perception, biases in situation perception, and biases in self-perception. We review the evolving complexity of...

Recent research has demonstrated that primes can affect self-perceptions, and that subsequent behavior is typically in line with these changed self-perceptions. However, a wide range of other priming effects have been documented, including changes in person perception, motivation, and so forth. The conditions under which a given prime affects the s...

These studies investigate whether individuals with high narcissism scores would be more likely to emerge as leaders during leaderless group discussions. The authors hypothesized that narcissists would emerge as group leaders. In three studies, participants completed personality questionnaires and engaged in four-person leaderless group discussions....

This article hypothesizes that the individual-difference variable, need for cognition (NFC), can have opposite implications for priming effects, depending on prime blatancy. Subtle primes are argued to be more effective for high- versus low-NFC individuals. This is because for high-NFC individuals, (a) constructs are generally easier to activate, (...

This paper examines a novel means of increasing elaboration of persuasive messages. Whereas much previous research has focused on ways to promote actual self-relevance of the message (e.g., by changing the message to match the recipient), the present research uses priming manipulations to change the recipient to match the message. Across two studie...

Self-consciousness has been shown to both increase and decrease the magnitude of prime-to-behavior effects. In this paper, we decouple the facets of self-consciousness into internal state awareness and self-reflectiveness and show that self-consciousness can be associated with multiple influences on automatic behavior. Specifically, we conducted an...

Most research on self-affirmation and persuasion has argued that self-affirmation buffers the self against the threat posed by a persuasive message; thus, it increases the likelihood that participants will respond to the message favorably. Little research, in contrast, has looked at the effects of self-affirmation on persuasive messages that are no...

Numerous parallels exist between the literatures on attitudes and the self, yet they are generally considered in isolation. In this paper, we focus on some parallels with respect to the concept of self-strength – that is, aspects of self-esteem and the self-concept that impart the qualities of durability and impactfulness. Using research on attitud...

We present a Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes. According to the MCM, an attitude object can be associated with both positive and negative evaluations that can be detected with modern implicit (automatic) measures of attitudes. These evaluative associations can be further associated with validity tags that are also consulted when completing d...

In this article, the authors review research showing the different roles that the self-concept can play in affecting prime-to-behavior effects. As an organizing framework, an Active-Self account of stereotype, trait, and exemplar prime-to-behavior effects is presented. According to this view, such primes can influence people's behavior by creating...

The purpose of this article is to apply theory and research on attitude certainty to the study of the self. Our main goal is to show that research on attitudes, and in particular attitude certainty, can provide useful insights into self-related phenomena. By considering research on attitudes, we may be able to re-interpret previous self-related fin...

When a construct is primed, people often act in construct-consistent ways. Several accounts for this effect have been offered, including ideomotor theory and a social functional perspective. The authors tested an additional perspective, the Active-Self account, whereby primes can temporarily alter self-perceptions. In Study 1, non-African American...