Why people say "yes": A dual-process theory of acquiescence.

In 3 studies the authors investigated yea-saying acquiescence from the standpoint of D. T. Gilbert's (1991) 2-stage model of comprehension, wherein comprehension requires automatic acceptance during the first stage, which is then reconsidered and evaluated during a more effortful second stage. In Study 1 respondents' response times to 100 self-descriptive adjectives, 10 adjectives endorsing each pole of each of the Big Five personality factors, were measured. Yea-sayers said yes faster than appropriate responders or nay-sayers, but no answers took equally long for these 3 types of people. These findings were consistent with the proposition that yea-sayers truncate the reconsideration stage of processing. Studies 2 and 3 supported this model more directly with findings that answering questions under cognitive load increased yea-saying. Implications are drawn for self-report measurement.