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Devil's advocacy is a valuable strategy in collective decision‐making. Decades of research have investigated devil's advocacy as a strategy in group deliberations, yet the individual dynamics of this behavior remain unknown. In everyday interactions, people spontaneously adopt this role by raising contentious viewpoints in casual conversations and debates. This article discusses the cognitive, motivational, and dispositional dynamics involved in playing devil's advocacy, particularly outside of structured group contexts. These person‐centered approaches offer a new perspective on this classic psychological construct. A prospective research agenda is outlined to broaden understanding of devil's advocacy, drawing from existing research on attitude change, minority influence, dissent, and intragroup processes. By expanding the focus from group decisions to include the advocates themselves, this work opens new avenues to explore what drives individuals to role‐play dissent and how this behavior surfaces in everyday life.
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Miranda May McIntyre (2026) studied this question.
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