Abstract: Higher education students are increasingly asked to read multiple texts for a writing assignment (i.e., source-based writing). This is a critical competence in the current society, as we are often asked to reflect on complex and controversial topics. As source-based writing is a cognitively demanding task, students need to be willing to engage with functional thinking dispositions. However, the association between thinking dispositions (such as actively-openminded thinking) and source-based writing is understudied. Importantly, it is unclear whether actively-openminded thinking is a stable trait or whether it can be influenced. The present study investigated the extent to which actively-openminded thinking (AOT) is a personal (?learner-level?) or a situational (?task-level?) variable in source-based writing. We tested 122 undergraduate students. After collecting participants? data on relevant control variables (perceived prior knowledge and prior beliefs) and AOT, participants were randomly assigned to two conditions. In the control condition, they were given two conflicting texts. In the sensitized condition, texts were manipulated by including inside cues aimed at supporting AOT. In both conditions, students were asked to write an argumentative essay after having read the sources. One month afterwards the source-based writing task was repeated on other two texts to control for the medium-term impact of AOT. According to ANCOVAs, personal and situational AOT were negatively associated with outcome variables. Overall, results suggested that AOT can be both, a personal and a situational variable. However, AOT do not always follow the rule ?the more the better,? since it might be detrimental for student?s source-based writing performance.

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