Abstract

Two experiments examine the role of a physical/biological threat in producing a posture of intolerance toward opinions allegedly expressed by other individuals. In the first experiment, the general hypothesis is tested that threatened participants would reject a higher number of opinions relative to the number of opinionis rejected by a control group. The data support the hypothesis. Further, based on a theory of "orienting vs. multiple perspectives" (Wicklund, 1999), a second experiment replicates this finding and articulates the hypothesis further, by drawing into the analysis the role of multiple perspectives in moderating the effects of threat. It is shown that participants with a substantial background of multiple contacts and internalized perspectives are in a better position to resist the threat than participants with a more scanty background of varied social experience.