Mindfulness as a factor of resistance to presuppositions included in questions

Ellen Langer has shown that it is possible to induce a mindless state in a recipient, and that this results in their greater submissiveness to social influences. In our experiments, we attempted to verify that a state ofmindfulness or mindlessness would differentiate the reactions of participants to presuppositions. We asked participants to perform a series of tasks intended to induce a state of mindfulness or mindlessness, and they were then presented with a key message containing either a request or a false assumption. Results of the experiments indicate that mindfulness significantly increases participants’ resistance to suggestions included in presuppositions, while mindlessness results in greater compliance to such influence. Submissiveness to presuppositions is explained by premature cognitive commitment. peerReviewed publishedVersion