Cognitive balance and assertiveness: Testing the construct validity of the states of mind categories

Abstract

The states of mind (SOM) model, an information-processing model incorporating positive and negative cognition, postulates five categories that result from the relative balance of positive and negative cognitions. Particular consequences are presumably associated with these differing categories of cognitive balance. In the present study the construct validity of the SOM model was tested by assessing the association between SOM categories and qualitative differences in assertive behavior. Female undergraduates delivered role-play assertive responses to five videotaped situations. Following their last response in each situation, subjects completed a thought-listing protocol. Preliminary analyses showed that responses to the five situations were independent. Contingency table analyses between SOM categories and levels of assertiveness (e.g., refusal vs. qualified refusal) were significant for all five situations. These analyses indicated that a number of the SOM categories were associated with expected qualitative differences in assertive behavior (e.g., internal dialogue of conflict with qualified refusal response). Contrary to Schwartz and Garamoni (1986), the results suggest that positive monologue may not be a dysfunctional cognitive state and show that positive monologue, in contrast to positive dialogue, is more frequently associated with refusal responses.