The fundamental phenomenon of human closed-mindedness is treated in
this volume. Prior psychological treatments of closed-mindedness
have typically approached it from a psychodynamic perspective and
have viewed it in terms of individual pathology. By contrast, the
present approach stresses the epistemic functionality of
closed-mindedness and its essential role in judgement and
decision-making. Far from being restricted to a select group of
individuals suffering from an improper socialization,
closed-mindedness is something we all experience on a daily basis.
Such mundane situational conditions as time pressure, noise,
fatigue, or alcoholic intoxication, for example, are all known to
increase the difficulty of information processing, and may
contribute to one's experienced need for nonspecific closure.
Whether constituting a dimension of stable individual differences,
or being engendered situationally - the need for closure, once
aroused, is shown to produce the very same consequences. These
fundamentally include the tendency to 'seize' on early,
closure-affording 'evidence', and to 'freeze' upon it thus becoming
impervious to subsequent, potentially important, information.
Though such consequences form a part of the individual's personal
experience, they have significant implications for interpersonal,
group and inter-group phenomena as well. The present volume
describes these in detail and grounds them in numerous research
findings of theoretical and 'real world' relevance to a wide range
of topics including stereotyping, empathy, communication, in-group
favouritism and political conservatism. Throughout, a distinction
is maintained between the need for a nonspecific closure (i.e., any
closure as long as it is firm and definite) and needs for specific
closures (i.e., for judgments whose particular contents are desired
by an individual).
Theory and research discussed in this book should be of interest to
upper level undergraduates, graduate students and faculty in
social, cognitive, and personality psychology as well as in
sociology, political science and business administration.
General
Imprint: |
Psychology Press
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Series: |
Essays in Social Psychology |
Release date: |
June 2004 |
First published: |
June 2004 |
Authors: |
Arie W. Kruglanski
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 17mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
208 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-86377-580-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
Psychology >
General
|
LSN: |
0-86377-580-2 |
Barcode: |
9780863775802 |
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