M6 Social Judgment Theory PDF

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M6 Social Judgment Theory SJT1 Theory about persuasion. Persuasion—human communication that is designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values, attitudes, or behaviors. Self-persuasion—individual decision making  Criteria for persuasion -persuasion is intentional (sender) -goals achieved through communication (means) (be some amount of interaction between the individuals involve) (research on persuasion has historically been tightly intertwined with the study of attitude change. However, attitude change or behavioral change can result from a variety of non-communicational processes. -the message recipient must have free will -- sum up, persuasion is not accidental nor coercive, and it is inherently communicational. People are different in terms of their susceptibility to persuasion. Some people are gullible 轻 易 相 信 的 易 受 骗 得 . E.g. advance-fee scam. Other some people are highly stubborn. But there are sth. in the message itself that lends itself to adoption or rejection.  SJT is a theoretical perspective (extension of Muzafer Sherif’s social perception an social judgment)  General focus—attitudes and

responses

to

persuasive

messages

(describes an attitude structures and a two-steps process of persuasion.) SJT2 Mapping your attitudes Ordered alternatives questionnaire for understanding SJT

Sees our attitude as attitude zones (latitude) rather than a single statement representing our opinion  Attitude Zones 1. Latitude of acceptance (zone of position we accept) -(including) anchor attitude (the single position that a person finds the most acceptable of all; may be extreme position or milder position) is

the statement you underlined. All the other statement circled the letters constitute the latitude of acceptance. AA is influenced by egoinvolvement 2. Latitude of rejection (contain positions we reject; all items crossed out) 3. Latitude of non-commitment (includes positions we neither accept nor reject) (letter that left unmarked) contains things we have no real opinion  Visualize your opinion in cognitive map --from the graph: the size of the latitudes are mutually exhaustive --if we know the latitude, better understand and predict their reaction to the persuasion messages. (the question is how, in most cases, you can only make guesses about people’s attitude structure based on your knowledge about them)

SJT3 Ego involvement The location and size of a person’s latitudes of acceptance, rejection, and noncommitment largely determined by their level of involvement with the issue EI—it refers to the level of personal involvement an individual has with the topic.  how much we care about an issue; how crucial the issue is to us; is the issue central to our well-being, success in life, or identity  ego involvement is issue specific: A person might be highly involved in issue A but not B (e/g/ academic success is a crucial issue for most college students) according to SJT, a person’s latitude of non-commitment and latitude of rejection is diretly related to their level of ego-involvement on an issue

These people have definite opinions on almost every position. Because very important to us, done a lot of thinking and have decision. Relatively few persuasive messages will work and attitude change will be difficult. Extreme position and HEI tend to be together, but they are distinct. It is possible that someone take strong middle-road position; extreme stand on an issue without being HEI; can be HEI in a middle-of-the-road position.

SJT 4 Two-step process How SJT describes the cognitive structure of a person’s attitude When we hear or read a persuasive message: two-step process of persuasion  step 1: message judgment (against the individual’s existing attitude) --persuasive messages judged against existing position/anchor attitude (the position fall within our latitude of acceptance, rejection, or noncommitment? How far?) --judgments of rejection make influence extremely difficult --the other two offer the chance of change  step 2: adjustment (the existing attitude)  during judgment process, we tend to make one of two kinds of judgmental biases (distort incoming information depending upon the anchor position)  judgment biases—likely to happen with HEI 1. contrast effect—message is perceived as more discrepant than it really is (further from “anchor attitude) occurs with message in the latitude of rejection -if incoming persuasive information falls within the latitude of rejection, then people will contrast that new position. Subconsciously exaggerate the difference between the new position and anchor position. PUSHING 2. assimilation effect-message is perceived as closer than it really is to “anchor attitude”. Occurs with messages in the latitude of acceptance (when information is close to the anchor position) (subconsciously minimize the difference) PULLING  attitude change (shifting our anchor) Discrepant message increases the strength of your conviction. So reduce the likelihood of attitude change

 those processes usually take place below the level of consciousness SJT5 Summary Tell them the optimal sleep advocated by sleep experts At beginning students attitude:8 hours Persuasive messages: 7-0 hours Support: students adjust attitudes towards fewer hours of sleep. But no boomerang effect

Ethical issue?

Ambiguity can more effective than clarity because more likelihood to fall in acceptance. Dogmatism— people have wide latitude of rejection....