Not Forbidding Isn't Allowing: The Cognitive Basis of the Forbid-Allow Asymmetry

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Band 50, Heft 1, S. 87-96

Abstract

Previous survey research has demonstrated that Rs are more likely to endorse the idea that something should "not be allowed" (or "not be forbidden") than to endorse the idea that it should be "forbidden" (or "allowed"), even though these expressions seem logically equivalent. The hypothesis is advanced that this asymmetry is due to the response behavior of indifferent Rs who neither endorse that something should be forbidden nor that it should be allowed, resulting in higher endorsements of the negative form of both question wordings. A mail questionnaire administered to a random sample of 720 adults in an industrial city of the Federal Republic of Germany (87% response rate) produced data consistent with this explanation. The cognitive mechanisms underlying the response behavior of indifferents is discussed, & evidence for cross-cultural stability of the forbid-allow effect presented. 1 Table, 1 Appendix, 7 References. Modified HA