Triarchic Model of Opinion Social Comparison

观点激发个人和集体行动的力量是有据可查的。同样引人注目的是观点变化的速度。观点的这些特性可以归因于这样一个事实，即观点的形成部分是社会背景的作用，特别是通过与他人或群体的比较。然而，舆论形成和变化背后的社会心理过程仍然没有得到很好的理解。这个项目包括七个实验，以测试一种新的方法来理解与他人的比较是如何影响观点形成的。新理论提出，意见比较主要有三种类型。一类是关于人们如何确认自己的个人偏好。一般背景相似的其他人似乎在这些案件中提供了最相关的信息。第二种类型涉及对信念的评估，最好通过与更专业的人进行意见比较来解决。然而，专业知识是不够的——这些“专家”还需要被认为分享与信念主题相关的某些潜在价值观。这方面的理论有可能阐明我们与外群体互动的知识。专家外群体成员（例如，来自不同种族或社会经济群体的人）的意见可能会被拒绝，尽管他们有更多的知识。第三种主要类型的意见比较涉及对未来情况或选择的预测。在这种情况下，与其他已经经历过这种情况的人进行比较可以提供最有用的信息，但前提是他们也有类似的背景或在过去的情况下表现出一致的反应。七个实验室实验将使用各种意见问题来测试关于选择和比较影响的三过程理论预测。由于意见比较在决策、群体行为和说服中起着重要作用，因此所提出的理论和研究应该推进有关这些过程所涉及的社会问题的基本知识。

The power of opinions to inspire individual and collective action is well-documented. Just as dramatic is the speed with which opinions can change. These properties of opinions can be attributed to the fact that opinions are formed partly as a function of the social context, particularly by comparisons with other people or groups. The social psychological processes that underlie opinion formation and change, however, are still not well-understood. This project includes seven experiments to test a new approach for understanding how comparisons with other people contribute to the formation of opinions. The new theory proposes that there are three main types of opinion comparison. One type concerns how people validate their personal preferences. Other persons who are similar in general background seem to furnish the most relevant information in these cases. A second type concerns the evaluation of beliefs which is best addressed through comparison of opinions with persons who have more expertise. However, expertise is not sufficient -- these "experts" also need to be perceived to share certain underlying values connected to the belief topic. This aspect of the theory has the potential to elucidate our knowledge about our interactions with outgroups. The opinions of expert outgroup members (e.g., someone from a different ethnic or socioeconomic group) might be rejected despite their greater knowledge. The third major type of opinion comparison involves prediction about future situations or choices. In this type, comparisons with other people who have already experienced the situation provide the most useful information, but only if they also have a similar background or expressed consistent reactions in past circumstances. The seven laboratory experiments will test the three-process theory predictions concerning selection and impact of comparison using a variety of opinion issues. Because opinion comparison plays a substantial role in decision-making, group behavior, and persuasion, the proposed theory and research should advance basic knowledge about social problems where these processes are involved.