Individual and Social Origins of Belief Structure Change

Abstract The present study was conducted among American undergraduates to examine the effects of public self-consciousness and repeated exposure to differing belief structures on individual belief structure change. This examination of both the individual and social origins of belief structure change complements the more typical investigations of how belief structures respond to the challenge of discrediting information. Individual differences multidimensional scaling analysis was employed to assess each subject's belief structure. Belief structure change was computed by summing the absolute value of the differences between each subject's dimension weights at two points in time 80 days apart. The results supported the predicted interaction effect: Individuals high in public self-consciousness who are exposed to individuals with differing belief structures are likely to change their belief structures.