Don’t Stop Believing: Structural Balance, Interpersonal Tension, and the Constraint of Belief Change

• In Event: 3142 - Open Topics on Social Psychology I

Abstract

When will people change their beliefs? Two structural approaches to explaining belief change and belief stability appear to supply incommensurate answers. In one, individuals are thought to alter their beliefs to avoid incongruent structural forms that create felt tensions, including with others with whom they have structurally-imbalanced sentiments and beliefs. In another. Individuals are thought to have greater difficulty altering beliefs that are more connected with other beliefs within a group’s belief system. Together, these suggest that the most tension-provoking imbalances will be the ones most difficult to change. Analysis of the role of tensions in structural balance and belief conversion are analyzed in 31 communes in order to resolve this puzzle. Results offer some support for both approaches and point to the need to consider these in concert when attempting to understand the mechanisms of belief change.

Author

• Craig M. Rawlings, Duke University