The interactive effects of processing preference and motivation on information processing: Causal uncertainty and the MBTI in a persuasion context

Causal uncertainty is thought to lead to accuracy motivation, which has been postulated previously to lead to increases in effortful information processing. It was hypothesized that this would depend on the extent to which a person typically prefers to process with conscious effort. Processing preference was assessed using the Judgment/Perception index of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. People high in causal uncertainty and Judgment (i.e., preference for conscious effort) listed more thoughts after reading a persuasive essay and recalled more of the essay than did other participants. Also, the attitudes of people high in both causal uncertainty and Judgment towards the topic were affected by their assessment of the quality of the arguments. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.