ABSTRACT

According to system justification theory, system-threatening messages decrease the legitimacy of the status quo. Thus, individuals who endorse system justice beliefs will employ a variety of system justification behaviors when encountering such messages. In this study, we hypothesized that such behaviors include resisting dialogue with an interlocuter who propounds a system-threatening message. To test this, a sample of MTurk respondents was randomly assigned to listen to one genuine testimony of an African-American male (either system-threatening or neutral in content) and then completed a nine-item measure of imagined dialogue receptivity. Results demonstrated that participants with above-average justice beliefs reported less dialogue receptivity toward the speaker with system-threatening, compared to neutral, testimony. We interpret these findings to indicate that system justification does indeed play a significant role in people’s attitudes toward communication.

摘要

根据系统合理性理论，威胁系统的消息会降低现状的合法性。因此，支持系统正义信念的个人在遇到此类消息时会采用各种系统辩护行为。在这项研究中，我们假设这种行为包括抵制与提出威胁系统信息的中间人的对话。为了测试这一点，随机分配了MTurk受访者样本来听取一名非裔美国男性的真实证词（内容受到系统威胁或中立），然后完成了对想象中的对话接受度的九项测量。结果表明，与中立的证词相比，具有高于平均水平的正义信仰的参与者报告称，对具有系统威胁的演讲者的对话接受度较低。