Assessing the Discriminant Validity between Integrative Complexity and Open-Minded Cognition

The objective of this study was to evaluate the discriminant validity between integrative complexity and open-minded cognition (OMC). That is, the aim of this study was to show that integrative complexity and OMC are conceptually distinct constructs. This online study randomly assigned 198 Loyola University Chicago undergraduate psychology students to read either six tenable, homogeneous written communication remarks or six untenable, heterogeneous written communication remarks, made during a hypothetical conversation about the inclusion of prayer/moments of silence in high school curriculums. Participants then listed their cognitive thoughts and responses to the communication in a free response format (integrative complexity measure) and completed the SSOMC survey scale. A 2x2 Mixed Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) yielded a highly significant two-way interaction, F(1, 153) = 24.11, p \u3c .001. This indicated that the effects of condition were significantly different for integrative complexity and SSOMC scores. These findings supported the study hypothesis, as the effects of condition did lead to significantly different scores on measures of SSOMC and integrative complexity. Additionally, there was no simple effect of condition on integrative complexity scores for participants, F(1, 153) = 0.17, p = .0.680, but there was a significant, positive simple effect of condition on SSOMC scores for participants, F(1, 153) = 56.40, p \u3c .001. These findings indicate that there was a significant difference in participant SSOMC scores by condition but not in participant integrative complexity scores