The Power of Sharing Negative Information in a Dyadic Context

The purpose of this study was to investigate a theoretical explanation of the mechanism of sharing negative attitudes and how it can have an impact on forming attitudes toward the targets and impressions about partners who engage in sharing attitudes. One hundred and fourteen university students were assigned to dyadic interactions with strangers and were asked to share positive, negative, or equally valenced aspects of a target topic. Findings indicated that sharing a negative attitude had significantly more capacity to change attitudes about a target in a negative direction than did sharing a mixed or a positive attitude. Sharing a negative attitude did not increase liking of one's partner. The practical implications and future directions of studying the Negativity Effect and interpersonal behavior are discussed.