Synonyms
Definition
A relatively unchangeable, unjustified certainty in one’s beliefs.
Introduction
An important discovery from early personality research was that individuals display varying degrees of rigidity toward information that is unfamiliar or contrary to their existing beliefs (Pornpitakpan 2004). To explain this phenomenon, Rokeach (1954) developed the concept of dogmatism. He defined dogmatism as a relatively closed cognitive system of beliefs and disbeliefs about reality, organized around a central set of beliefs about absolute authority which, in turn, provides a framework for patterns of intolerance and qualified tolerance towards others. The function of dogmatism is to provide a schema for organizing an individual’s experiences in political, religious, and scientific domains of life (Rokeach 1960). This systematic patterning of attitudes and beliefs across various domains gave rise to the idea that dogmatism represents a basic...
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German, K.T. (2019). Dogmatism. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_655-1
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