LEVEL OF INITIAL ATTITUDE, ACTIVE REHEARSAL, AND INSTRUCTIONAL SET AS FACTORS IN ATTITUDE CHANGE.

2 experiments are reported in which Ss having extremely favorable, favorable, and neutral attitudes toward the church were induced to read an antichurch essay to 6 listeners of their choice outside the laboratory. ½ of the Ss in each predisposition group were told that their own attitudes might be influenced as a result of the experience. Both those Ss who were ‘favorable’ toward the church and those who were ‘neutral’ became significantly less prochurch as measured by posttesting with the attitude scale. The extremely prochurch Ss were not significantly influenced by this mode of persuasion. Instructional set did not produce any significant differences in susceptibility of Ss in any of the groups to the compliance experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)