Sticky Priors: The Perseverance of Identity Effects on Judgment

Abstract

This research examines the perseverance of identity-based judgments by exploring the effectiveness of various corrective procedures that are intended to neutralize identity effects on judgment. The authors explore these effects in a series of studies that involve different kinds of identities (e.g., parent, teenager, businessperson, environmentalist) linked to different objects and issues (e.g., Internet censorship, pollution credits, electronic books). Moreover, they test the effectiveness of various corrective procedures, including feature-based analysis, counterfactual reasoning, counteridentification, and social influence. The authors find that identity-driven thinking leads to judgment that resists change, that is, a procedural bias or "sticky prior" in favor of an initial identity-based judgment. The findings attest to both the power of identity and the efficacy of analytic and nonanalytic corrective techniques.

The effect of authentic transformational leadership on follower and group ethics

“…As we noted above and depict in Fig. 1, this argument implies that an individual with a strong moral identity will strive to maintain a consistency and balance between his/her moral identity and his/her moral actions/decisions (Aquino & Reed, 2002;Blasi, 1980Blasi, , 1983Blasi, , 1993, all of which would be expected to contribute to those individuals choosing to act morally and ethically in order to remain consistent with their values and beliefs (Bolton & Reed, 2004;Reed et al, 2007). Bandura (2008) provides further support for this logic, arguing that viewing oneself as having high moral standards is more likely to inhibit unethical actions.…”

“…The third characteristic of moral identity lies in its self-consistency, which means that an individual has a tendency to behave consistently with his/her moral self-concept. Therefore, if being moral is centered on the self, the inclination to behave ethically will become an internalized motivation and an important force for moral action (Bolton & Reed, 2004;Reed et al, 2007).…”

Moral Identity and Judgments of Charitable Behaviors

“…Moreover, identity-based judgments tend to be resistant to change (Bolton and Reed 2004). Salient and self-important identities trigger consumers to process information and engage in behaviors that they believe to be consistent with that identity (Forehand, Deshpandé, and Reed 2002).…”

Myanmar’s Cultural Dimensions: Exploring the Relationship among the Social Identity, Attitudes towards Globalisation and Preferences of Myanmar Consumers in Yangon

“…Consider an advertising tagline from Secret deodorant"Strong Like a Woman" or the classic slogan from Molson"I am Canadian." These marketing campaigns highlight a connection between one aspect of the consumer's social identity and the brand (Bolton and Reed 2004;White and Argo 2009). Consumers' social identities can also be related to consumers' level of identification with their country, as illustrated with the latter example, or even their feelings towards other countries where consumer products are manufactured.…”