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Perceived bases for attitude certainty and resistance to persuasive communication

Luttrell, Andrew
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339596850

Abstract Details

2012, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
The present research examines whether the reasons that people think underlie their certainty in an attitude affect the process through which they resist persuasion. Although attitude certainty has been studied as an important indicator of an attitude’s strength, the various antecedents to certainty uncovered in past research suggest that perhaps equal degrees of certainty can vary in their bases. Following from prior work on attitude strength, such distinct routes to attitude certainty were hypothesized to have implications not for outcomes traditionally associated with strong attitudes (e.g., resistance in the face of persuasion) but for the processes used to achieve those outcomes (e.g., direct counterarguing vs. simply discounting the message). Two studies tested this hypothesis by examining the relationship between peoples’ perceived bases for attitude certainty and thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) engagement in resisting a persuasive message. In Study 1, perceived bases of certainty were measured using a survey methodology, and in Study 2, perceived bases of certainty were manipulated using a false feedback paradigm. In both studies, when people perceived having stronger (vs. weaker) reasons for their degree of attitude certainty, they spent more time reading a counterattitudinal message, produced more message-unfavorable thoughts in response to the message, and produced message-unfavorable thoughts characteristic of more thoughtful resistance strategies. Together, these studies provide evidence that attitude certainty can achieve the outcomes traditionally associated with strong attitudes via different processes depending on the bases on which people perceive their certainty to rest. Implications for the generalizability of these effects are discussed.
Richard E. Petty, PhD (Advisor)
Duane Wegener, PhD (Committee Member)
Russell Fazio, PhD (Committee Member)
92 p.
Social Psychology
attitudes; resistance to persuasion; certainty; confidence; attitude bases; counterarguing

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Luttrell, A. (2012). Perceived bases for attitude certainty and resistance to persuasive communication [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339596850

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Luttrell, Andrew. Perceived bases for attitude certainty and resistance to persuasive communication. 2012. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339596850.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Luttrell, Andrew. "Perceived bases for attitude certainty and resistance to persuasive communication." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339596850

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1339596850
849
© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.