Influence & Social Judgement Theory Tara Wilkinson-McClean. PhD Candidate

Media + Communications Lecturer

Influence • Immediacy

• Personal Involvement

• Nonverbal Messages

Social Judgement Theory - Key Words• Social Judgement Involvement

• Latitude of Acceptance

• Latitude of Rejection

• Latitude of Non-commitment

• Ego Involvement

• Contrast

• Assimilation

• Boomerang Effect

• Reference Groups

• Pluralistic Ignorance

Social Judgement Involvement“We weigh every new idea by comparing it with our present point of

view”

Latitude of Attitude

Acceptance

Rejection

NonCommit

ment

Ego Involvement

Importance or centrality of an issue in a person’s life

Two Step Mental Process

Judging the

Message2 Step Mental Process

Discrepancy &

Attitude Change

Occurs Below Consciousness

Contrast vs. Assimilation

Contrast Assimilation

Latitude of AcceptanceIf we judge a message to be within our latitude of acceptance. We will

adjust our attitude somewhat to accommodate the new input. The persuasive effect will be positive but partial. We won’t travel the whole

distance, but there will be some measurable movement toward the speaker’s perceived position.

Latitude of RejectionIf we judge a message to be within our latitude of rejection. We will adjust our attitude away from what the speaker is advocating. Since people who are highly ego-involved in a topic have a broad range of rejection, most messages aimed to persuade them are in danger of

actually driving them further away.

Boomerang EffectAttitude change in the opposite direction of what the message

advocates; listeners driven away from rather than drawn to an idea.

Reference GroupsThe only way to stimulate large-scale change is through a series of small, successive movements. Persuasion is a gradual process. It’s

also a social process.

Pluralistic IgnoranceThe mistaken idea that everyone else is doing or thinking something

that they aren’t

Critique• Practical Utility

• Prediction of Future

• Explanation of Data

• Quantitative Research

• Testable Hypothesis