Dwelling on the bad: Negative arguments and stimuli are given more weight in both cumulative and noncumulative tasks

Abstract

Studies of order effects have often been siloed into those focused on question order effects, which examine pairs of purportedly independent items, and information order effects, which ask participants to combine multiple pieces of information. We present data from both types of tasks demonstrating a previously unreported asymmetry, where negative stimuli have a stronger effect on subsequent positive stimuli than vice versa. Data are reanalyzed from three previously published studies of order effects, as well as two novel experiments; we observed consistent results across a variety of tasks and stimuli. These results are discussed in the context of both traditional models like Hogarth and Einhorn’s belief-adjustment model and more recent attempts to use quantum probability theory to model order effects.