Effects of Dogmatism on State Anxiety During the Analysis and Synthesis of New Beliefs

Abstract

Investigated the concept of dogmatism as a defense mechanism and the rote of threat in the synthesis of new beliefs by examining the effects of dogmatism on changes in state anxiety (A-State) during the analysis and synthesis of new beliefs. Sixty female college students were selected on the basis of extreme scores on the Dogmatism Scale and the trait anxiety (A-Trait) scale of the State-Trait Anxiety inventory to work on a task requiring the analysis and synthesis Of new beliefs, In support of Rokeach's theory, high dogmatics displayed no change in A-State from the analysis to the synthesis period of the task, while low dogmatics exhibited a significant decline in A-State between the two periods. The clinical implications of these findings were discussed in terms of the rote of dogmatism in the processing of personality interpretations and test feedback.