Motivated inference: Self‐serving generation and evaluation of causal theories

Kunda, Ziva

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.636

Cited by 1,059Social and Intergroup PsychologyDecision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsPsychological Testing and Assessment

Motivated inference: Self‐serving generation and evaluation of causal theories

Kunda, Ziva·1987·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.636

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Several studies found that when a health message is of high personal relevance, people are more likely to scrutinize the message for fault than when a message is of no special relevance.
“Several studies have found that when a health message is of high personal relevance, people are more likely to scrutinize the message for fault than when a message is of no special relevance (Ditto & Lopez, 1992;Kunda, 1987;Liberman & Chaiken, 1992).”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Kunda, 1987
In the Sherman, Nelson, and Steele (2000) study, in the no-affirmation control condition, coffee-drinking women were more critical of the scientific article and more resistant to the message than were non-coffee-drinking women.
“Those in the no-aYrmation control condition exhibited the pattern found in earlier research (Kunda, 1987;Liberman & Chaiken, 1992): the coVee-drinking women were more critical of the scientific article and more resistant to the message than were the noncoVee drinking women”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Kunda, 1987
When people define what characteristics make a successful marriage, they emphasize characteristics they themselves possess rather than those they do not.
“When people define what characteristics are likely to make a person have a successful marriage, they emphasize those characteristics that they themselves possess rather than those they do not (Kunda, 1987).”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Kunda, 1987

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Authors: Kunda, Z.
Affiliations: Princeton University (US)
Corresponding author: Kunda, Ziva
Venue: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1987-10
Volume: 53
Issue: 4
Pages: 636-647
ISSN: 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
1939-1315
DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.636
OpenAlex: W2091100244
Cited by: 1,059
References: 44
Citations by year: 2026: 10 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 45 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 41
FWCI: 94.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
Keywords: self-serving bias, causal theories, causal explanation, theory generation, theory evaluation

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