Opportunity to Counterargue as a Factor in Selective Exposure.

The opportunity to counterargue in response to a counterattitudinal message may prompt an individuals voluntary exposure to that communication. It was predicted that those subjects who were encouraged to counterargue would listen to the counterattitudinal message for a longer period of time. The literature on resistance to persuasion, reactance, and cognitive balance theories are discussed as a basis for the above prediction. Results showed a singificant tendency for the counterarguing groups to listen to the persuasive message for a longer period of time than the control group which had no opportunity to counterargue. Author