Fostering Advocacy
How the Underlying Constructs of Attitude Certainty Affect Persuasion Intentions
Lauren Cheatham
Stanford University
Abstract
When people attempt to persuade others toward their opinions, they typically
have to feel very certain about their own opinion. Past research suggests that
attitude certainty likely plays a major role in determining advocacy behaviors.
However, the present research suggests that there is a more nuanced
understanding of how attitude certainty drives advocacy. Specifically, we find that
the two underlying constructs of attitude certainty – clarity and correctness –
differentially predict advocacy. Across three studies we show that attitude
correctness is a strong predictor of advocacy while attitude clarity is not.