A good tennis player does not lose matches. The effects of valence congruency in processing stance-argument pairs.

Abstract

According to the principle of Argumentative Orientation (AO), speakers and writers adjust their frame choice to the opinion they want to convey and hearers and readers are sensitive to this profile choice. In three reaction time studies (N = 68; N = 97; N = 60) we investigated whether, in line with AO, stance-argument pairs congruent in valence are easier to process and to verify than incongruent pairs. Second, we tested whether, in line with predictions from the Markedness Principle (MP), positive congruent pairs are easier to process than negative congruent pairs. In line with AO, participants made faster and more accurate judgments of congruent pairs than of incongruent pairs. This effect was observed when controlling for word length and word frequency, and occurred irrespective of the distance between the evaluative word in the stance and argument. No unambiguous effect of Markedness was found.