Attitude change in the counterattitudinal advocate: media and audience factors

Includes bibliographical references (pages 31-33)This study was designed to test the attitude change predictions of two different interpretations of dissonance theory and to compare these with a reinforcement prediction. One interpretation is that dissonance is the result of discrepancies between cognitions about one's actions; for instance, " I said X" but "1 really believe not X.??? A second interpretation is that it is aroused by discrepancies between cognitions pertaining to one's self-esteem. ???I am an honest, decent person" but "I have done a dishonest thing by misleading another person.??? In either case, increased dissonance should lead to attitude change. Reinforcement theory states that attitude change occurs to the degree that subjects receive positive reinforcements for advocating that belief. Subjects were asked to make video tapes of counterattitudinal speeches. The topic they advocated was "Legalized Abortions Should Be Banned.??? They were told that these tapes would be played to either an uncommitted audience or an audience favoring the topic. After the tapes were made, subjects were further told that the tapes were either intact or destroyed. A main effect for the intact-tape subjects would be support for the first interpretation of dissonance. An interaction effect with the most attitude change in the uncommitted-audience, tape-intact subjects would support the second interpretation of dissonance. Results consistent with a reinforcement effect should reveal a main effect for the agreeing audience. Results did not support any of the hypotheses. However, results of a long-term post-test revealed that subjects in the uncommitted-audience, tape-destroyed condition retained significantly more attitude change than subjects in any of the other conditions. This was explained in terms of the Zeigarnck effect where "tensions" remain in an uncompleted task situation until the task has been completed