Accession Number:

AD0781904

Title:

Choosing Between Two Aversive Communications: Some Predictions from Social Judgment Theory.

Descriptive Note:

Technical rept.,

Corporate Author:

AMERICAN UNIV WASHINGTON D C DEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Personal Author(s):

• McGinnies,Elliott
• Sullivan,Philip H. , Jr

Report Date:

1974-07-01

Pagination or Media Count:

18.0

Abstract:

Forty subjects, twenty classified as moderately involved and twenty as highly involved in the issue of a tuition increase, were given the choice of listening to one or both of two counterattitudinal communications. The less extreme message advocated an increase in tuition of 10 per course, while the more extreme advocated a 50 increase. As predicted from the postulates of social judgment theory, the moderately involved subjects preferred the more discrepant message and the highly involved subjects preferred the less discrepant message. The findings have implications for understanding some aspects of selective exposure to information. Author

Descriptors:

• *Decision making
• *Attitudes(Psychology)
• Reaction(Psychology)
• Behavior
• Social communication

Subject Categories:

• Psychology

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE