Polarization and preference for judgmental labels

Studied how value connotations of the response language affect the relationship between judges' attitudes and polarization of judgment. In Exp I, 105 Dutch military conscripts rated 28 statements concerning drug use on 2 types of rating scales. Results indicate that Ss showed more polarization on rating scales where their own evaluation of the statement was congruent with the value connotations of the scale labels. In Exp II, 82 university students were asked to rank adjectives in order of their suitability to characterize attitude statements. Results imply that value connotations mediated the relationship between Ss' attitude and preference for verbal labels in attributing adjectives to attitude statements. Subsequent analysis suggested that this preference for adjectives that were evaluatively congruent with own attitude persisted even when the adjectives were less correct from a descriptive point of view.