Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The relationship between perceived capacity to elaborate a counterattitudinal position and change in attitude resulting from counterattitudinal advocacy was examined in terms of self-attribution of attitude. Female participants (entering college freshmen) individually conveyed positive impressions of a boring task to a female accomplice, in a posttest-only control group design. Capacity for counterattitudinal advocacy was manipulated by the apparent duration (6 or 1½ min.) of the 3-min. advocacies. Participants in the 6-min. condition (high capacity) evidenced significantly more positive attitudes on posttest than did those in the 1½-min. condition (low capacity) (F_1,22 = 7.83, p < .01). Both experimental conditions yielded more change in attitude than the no-advocacy control group. These results are interpreted as supporting an “ability route” to self-attribution of attitude.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bem

D. J.

An experimental analysis of self-persuasion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1965, 1, 199–218.

Bem

D. J.

Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychological Review, 1967, 74, 183–200.

Bem

D. J.

Self-perception theory. In Berkowitz

(Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology. Vol. 6. New York: Academic Press, 1972. Pp. 1–62.

Carlsmith

J. M.

Collins

B. E.

Helmreich

R. L.

Studies in forced compliance: I. The effect of pressure for compliance on attitude change produced by face-to-face role playing and anonymous essay writing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966, 4, 1–13.

Fishbein

An investigation of the relationship between beliefs about an object and the attitude toward the object. Human Relations, 1963, 16, 233–239.

Heider

The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley, 1958.

Jones

E. E.

Davis

K. E.

From acts to dispositions: The attribution process in person perception. In Berkowitz

(Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology. Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press, 1965. Pp. 219–266.

Rosenberg

M. J.

Cognitive structure and attitudinal affect. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1956, 53, 367–372.

Rosenberg

M. J.

Hedonism, inauthenticity, and other goals toward expansion of a consistency theory. In Abelson

Aronson

McGuire

W. J.

Newcomb

T. M.

Rosenberg

M. J.

Tannenbaum

P. H.

(Eds.), Theories of cognitive consistency: A sourcebook. Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1968. Pp. 73–111.

Attitude Change as a Function of Self-Perceived Capacity for Counterattitudinal Advocacy

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References