TY - JOUR TI - Emotional disclosure and biased evaluation DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-tt3f-jg10 PY - 2018 AB - This study tested whether emotional disclosure reduced defensiveness toward opponents of an opposing view and evaluations toward the view itself. Subjects either disclosed or suppressed their thoughts and feeling about a past negative event and then read a debate on abortion. Following the debate, participants answered questions assessing the debaters, the debate, and their attitude toward abortion. Participants also completed an Implicit Association Task and background surveys. Disclosure reduced hostility towards debaters making pro-choice arguments but not towards debaters making pro-life arguments. Among only moderate proponents and opponents of abortion, subjects evaluated the quality of the in-group debaters’ argument as less favorable if they disclosed compared to if they suppressed. Also excluding the extreme proponents and opponents of abortion, disclosure made pro-choice and pro-life subjects more moderate in their views on abortion. This research supports the idea that emotional disclosure elicits psychosocial resources and therefore reduces defensiveness in certain groups of people. KW - Psychology KW - Self-disclosure KW - Defensiveness (Psychology) LA - eng ER -