Seizing and Freezing" on a Significant-Person Schema: Need for Closure and the Transference Effect in Social Judgment

Two experimental studies examined the possibility that the need for cognitive closure (NfCC) affects the tendency to exhibit transference effects in social encounters. They reveal that the transference effect is more pronounced when individuals' (dispositional) NfCC is high (vs. low). In Study 1, this effect is demonstrated with respect to the transference of false memories about a newly encountered target person generalized from one's representation of a significant other. In Study 2, it is demonstrated with respect to the transference of both false memories and affective reaction to a new leader based on one's representation of a past leader. The discussion considers the role of motivation in the transference effect in relation to the social cognitive and psychodynamic views of transference.