Preference for information in relation to consistency, novelty, intolerance of ambiguity, and dogmatism

77 male and 81 female Ss first wrote arguments favouring American intervention in South Vietnam and arguments opposing intervention. They then rated the direction and degree of their interest in reading each of 4 sets of information concerned with this issue: familiar arguments‐pro intervention, familiar arguments‐con intervention, novel arguments‐pro intervention, novel arguments‐con intervention. Subsequently they completed an attitude scale concerned with American intervention, Budner's test of intolerance of ambiguity, and Form E of Rokeach's dogmatism scale. Results showed that: (a) subjects tended to display positive interest in information, preferred consistent to inconsistent information, and preferred novel to familiar information; (b) high intolerant and high dogmatic subjects showed a more pronounced preference for consistent as opposed to inconsistent information than did low intolerant and low dogmatic subjects; (c) high intolerant and high dogmatic subjects showed a less pronounced preference for novel as opposed to familiar information than did low intolerant and low dogmatic subjects. 1969 Australian Psychological Society