EXPRESS: Dwelling on the bad: Negative arguments and stimuli are given more weight in both cumulative and non-cumulative 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.