TY - JOUR
T1 - You and I have nothing in common
T2 - The role of dissimilarity in interpersonal influence
AU - Tuk, Mirjam A.
AU - Verlegh, Peeter W.J.
AU - Smidts, Ale
AU - Wigboldus, Daniël H.J.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - Source characteristics are a key determinant of preferences and choice in the interpersonal influence process. Extant literature documents the positive impact of similarity between oneself and an opinion provider on advice taking, but much less is known about how dissimilarity affects choice. While earlier research assumed that people ignore or discount the opinions of dissimilar others, we argue that dissimilarity can lead to preference and choice contrast. We posit that perceptions of dissimilarity trigger a more general hypothesis of dissimilarity. As a result, a preference contrast is observed, driven by people's tendency to interpret the provided opinion in a way that confirms their dissimilarity hypothesis. Five studies confirm the emergence of preference and choice contrast due to dissimilarity, and support the proposed mechanism. We discuss the relevance of proper baseline conditions for (dis)similarity research, as well as implications for research within the domain of interpersonal influence.
AB - Source characteristics are a key determinant of preferences and choice in the interpersonal influence process. Extant literature documents the positive impact of similarity between oneself and an opinion provider on advice taking, but much less is known about how dissimilarity affects choice. While earlier research assumed that people ignore or discount the opinions of dissimilar others, we argue that dissimilarity can lead to preference and choice contrast. We posit that perceptions of dissimilarity trigger a more general hypothesis of dissimilarity. As a result, a preference contrast is observed, driven by people's tendency to interpret the provided opinion in a way that confirms their dissimilarity hypothesis. Five studies confirm the emergence of preference and choice contrast due to dissimilarity, and support the proposed mechanism. We discuss the relevance of proper baseline conditions for (dis)similarity research, as well as implications for research within the domain of interpersonal influence.
KW - Decision making
KW - Dissimilarity
KW - Persuasion
KW - Similarity
KW - Social comparison
KW - Social influence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059941409&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85059941409&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.12.010
DO - 10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.12.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059941409
VL - 151
SP - 49
EP - 60
JO - Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
JF - Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
SN - 0749-5978
ER -