| dc.description.abstract | Both Sherif and Hovland's (1961) judgmental theory and
Festinger's (1957) dissonance theory (particularly as mterpreted
by Festmger & Aronson, i960, and Aronson, Turner, & Carlsmith,
1963) predict a curviknear relationship between mfluence and
coimnumcator-commumcatee discrepancy According to the
judgmental mterpretation, a commumcation, like an external
anchor, produces mcreasmg positive influence (assimilation) with
moderate discrepancy, and decreasmg influence or possibly negative
influence (contrast) with more extreme discrepancy As
long as a communication is m the latitude of acceptance, mcreasmg
discrepancy will produce mcreasmg change, but when a
communication is m the more discrepant latitude of rejection,
mcreasmg discrepancy will produce decreasmg change The
latitude of acceptance is operationally mdexed m terms of the
range of positions that the mdividual considers acceptable, and
the latitude of rejection in terms of the range of positions that
the mdividual considers objectionable Accordmg to the dissonance
interpretation, increasing commimicator-commumcatee
discrepancy produces mcreasmg amounts of dissonance that
theoretically can be reduced m any of four ways conformity to
the communicator's point of view, disparagement of the communicator,
persuasion of the communicator that he is mcorrect,
obtamed social support from other like-minded individuals In
most laboratory experiments Ss are not allowed to talk either
to the communicator or to other Ss, thus, the latter two modes
of dissonance reduction are not available This leaves conformity
and disparagement as the only possibilities | |
