Schedule for Today
Presentation -Social Judgment Theory
 Discussion – Social Judgment Theory
 Presentation/Discussion – Cognitive
Constancy Theories

Key Points

People with high ego-involvement have a
narrow latitude of acceptance, a strong
anchor point and a large latitude of
rejection.
A
NC
Latitude of Rejection
Ego-Involvement

The issue is important to you.
Anchor Point

The central point of your belief system
about anything. It is your anchor.

A strongly held belief will have a large
anchor.

A weakly held belief will have a small
anchor.
Key Points

People with low ego-involvement have a
wide latitude of non-commitment.
A
Latitude of Non-Commitment
R
Key Points

People with moderate ego-involvement
have a more evenly distributed latitudes.
A
NC
R
Key Points

People with an open mind have a broad
latitude of acceptance.
Latitude of Acceptance
NC
R
Why is this important?

Because our best chance for affecting
attitude shift is to present information that
is as discrepant as possible with their
anchor while being in their latitude of
acceptance.
A
NC
R
A little is better than none

An incremental change may be the best
we can get at any one time, but over time
we may see a more prominent shift.
A
NC
R
Other Key Points

A highly credible speaker will stretch a
person’s latitude of acceptance.

Focus on the other person’s point of view
rather than just what you want to say.

Be satisfied with what CAN be done.
Cognitive Constancy Theories
Cognitive Dissonance
 Balance Theory
 Congruity Theory
 Rokeach’s Value Theory

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Based on the belief that we have a drive
for lack of cognitive dissonance.

In other words, we want consistency
between our beliefs and our actions.

We also want consistency between our
beliefs.
We seek to avoid dissonance

Surround ourselves with people of the
same attitudes.

Selective exposure to information that
supports our beliefs.
What if we can’t avoid it?

If we have psychological inconsistency
involving behavior, we either have to
change our attitude or our behavior.

Change will occur in whichever has the
weakest resistance to change.
Or . . .

We can trivialize or minimize the
transgression (only if we have high selfesteem)
What if we can’t avoid it?

If we have psychological inconsistency
involving cognitions, we either have to
change our attitude or change the weight
of one of the cognitions.
How does this pertain to us?

We can create dissonance to induce a
behavior shift (but that does not ensure
an attitude shift)
Other Options

We can become a credible person in a
person’s life and suggest incremental
change

How does this relate to Social Judgment
Theory?
Other theories

Balance theory

Congruity Theory

Rokeach’s Value Theory