When conflicts are good: Nonconscious goal conflicts reduce confirmatory thinking.

Abstract

In this article, we argue that nonconscious goal conflicts are accompanied by a mindset that has wide-ranging implications for reasoning and thinking in content areas that are not part of the conflict itself. Specifically, we propose that nonconscious goal conflicts induce a mode of processing information that increases the likelihood of approaching an issue from opposing perspectives. This hypothesis is examined by investigating the effects of nonconscious goal conflicts on confirmatory thinking, that is, a way of thinking that narrowly focuses on confirmation rather than on broader examination of information. In 5 experiments, we show that nonconscious goal conflicts significantly reduce confirmatory hypothesis testing (Experiments 1 through 3) and anchoring (Experiments 4 and 5). We further show that these effects result from a goal conflict by rejecting explanations based on priming of semantic opposites, and priming of multiple goals that do not conflict (Experiments 2 and 3), and by examining decision times as a conflict process variable (Experiment 5). Using various probes, we show that these changes in confirmatory judgments are not accompanied by changes in conflict phenomenology. Together, these results suggest that nonconscious goal conflicts attenuate the robust confirmatory thinking strategy that characterizes human thinking in numerous domains.

The conflict mindset: How internal conflicts affect self‐regulation

“…The “conflict mindset” idea stems from this very nature of conflict (Kleiman & Hassin, ). Specifically, the idea of a conflict mindset states that internal conflicts evoke a unique information processing strategy that builds on the very nature of conflict—vacillating between two (or more) conflicting alternatives.…”

“…Once a conflict is evoked, the cognitive procedure of considering alternatives becomes accessible, irrespective of the specific content that activated the conflict in the first place. This procedure is then applied to relevant judgments the individual has to currently make and has streamline implications for cognition, motivation, and behavior (Kleiman & Hassin, ; Savary, Kleiman, Hassin, & Dhar, ; Stern & Kleiman, ).…”

“…In this paper, we are not concerned with the conflict itself, but rather with the cognitive procedure that underlies it, irrespective of its content (Kleiman & Hassin, ). In what follows, we describe the conflict mindset and discuss its implications for cognition, motivation, and self‐regulation.…”

Mixed emotions within the context of goal pursuit

“…The recognition of conflict during goal pursuit has been shown to trigger consideration of broader perspectives critical thinking about goal priorities and goal pursuit (Kleiman & Hassin, 2013). Goal conflict and their coinciding mixed emotions could therefore lead to more accurate appraisals of priorities and resources, to the ultimate benefit of goal achievement.…”

Positive consequences of conflict on decision making: When a conflict mindset facilitates choice.

“…Accordingly, we activated a conflict outside of awareness by simultaneously priming two conflicting goals (Kleiman & Hassin, 2013), and examined whether there is an increase in systematic processing on choice in domains unrelated to the primed conflict. We demonstrated that nonconsciously activated goal conflict de creases the likelihood of selecting options associated with conflict avoidance (Experiments 1 and 4), due to a more systematic infor mation processing associated with a conflict mindset (Experiment 2), and not to other factors (Experiment 3).…”