People are more likely to judge repeatedly perceived statements as true. A decisive explanation for this so-called truth effect is that the repeated information can be processed more fluently than new information and that this fluency experience renders the information more familiar and trustworthy. Little is known, however, regarding whether and how affective states and dispositional cognitive preferences influence the truth effect. To this end, we conducted two experiments in which we manipulated (a) processing fluency via repetition, (b) the time interval (10 min vs. 1 week) between repetitions, and (c) short-term affective states using the presentation of emotional faces (Experiment 1) or the presence of an irrelevant source for changes in affective states (Experiment 2). Additionally, we assessed the dispositional variables need for cognitive closure (NCC), preference for deliberation (PD) and preference for intuition (PI). Results of Experiment 1 showed that the truth effect was significantly reduced for statements that were followed by a negative prime, although this was the case only for the longer repetition lag. Furthermore, higher NCC and lower PD scores were associated with an increased truth effect. Results of Experiment 2 replicated the moderating role of NCC and further showed that participants, who were provided with an alternative source for changes in their affective states, showed a reduced truth effect. Together, the findings suggest that (a) fluency-related changes in affective states may be (co-)responsible for the truth effect, (b) the truth effect is decreased when the repetition interval is long rather than short, and (c) the truth effect is increased for individuals with a higher need for cognitive closure. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

人们更有可能将反复感知的陈述判断为真实。对于这种所谓的真值效应，一个决定性的解释是，重复的信息比新的信息处理得更流畅，这种流畅的体验使信息更加熟悉和可信。然而，关于情感状态和性格认知偏好是否以及如何影响真相效应，我们知之甚少。为此，我们进行了两个实验，其中我们操纵（a）通过重复处理流畅性，（b）重复之间的时间间隔（10分钟对1周），以及（c）使用呈现的短期情感状态情绪化的面孔（实验 1）或情感状态变化的无关来源的存在（实验 2）。此外，我们评估了认知闭合（NCC）、深思熟虑（PD）和直觉偏好（PI）所需的性格变量。实验 1 的结果表明，对于后跟负素数的陈述，真值效应显着降低，尽管只有较长的重复滞后才会出现这种情况。此外，较高的 NCC 和较低的 PD 评分与真实效应的增加有关。实验 2 的结果复制了 NCC 的调节作用，并进一步表明，为他们提供了情感状态变化的替代来源的参与者表现出降低的真实效应。总之，研究结果表明（a）情感状态中与流畅性相关的变化可能（共同）负责真相效应，（b）当重复间隔长而不是短时，真相效应会降低，（c）对于认知闭合需要较高的个体，真相效应会增加。讨论了这些发现的理论意义。