Research and theory on the effects of cognitive structure on belief acquisition and change are reviewed. The basic principle that closed-minded persons are less able than open-minded persons to learn new beliefs and to change old beliefs is verified. However, five variables are found to intervene between belief acquisition or change and open-and closed-mindedness: the authority source of the new beliefs, the syndrome relevance of their mode of communication, the belief congruence and novelty of the new beliefs, and their centrality to the individual.
A hypothetical situation is presented in which respondents are ignored. While an earlier study reported female subjects reacted negatively toward themselves in such a situation, in the present study, proportions of women ( n = 134) and men ( n = 79) making these choices were nor significantly different.
This research tested the proposition that closed-minded persons will restrict sensory input and interpersonal relationships. 303 high and low scorers on dogmatism, self-attitude, and self-reliance scales were compared for food-avoidance and reference-other relationships. While there was no significant difference in number of foods tasted and rejected, the closed-minded had tried significantly fewer foods. There was no difference in number of reference others but the closed-minded felt significantly greater constraint regarding the perceived importance of, control of, and accountability to their reference others. The theoretical consistency of these findings is discussed.
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