INVOLVEMENT AND SOURCE CREDIBILITY AS VARIABLES IN PERSUASION WITH JAPANESE STUDENTS.
Abstract
Samples of students at five universities in the Tokyo area read an article written by Ambassador Reischauer defending the military position taken by the United States in Vietnam. Credibility of the source was manipulated by attributing the article either to Mr. Reischauer or to a MAAG advisor recently returned from Vietnam. Attitudes of the students were measured immediately after they had read the article and compared with those of control subjects who had not been exposed to a communication. Involvement of the subject with the issue as well as their impressions of the author were also measured by means of rating scales and adjective check list. Source credibility, in general, was a factor in attitude change only as it interacted with involvement. The trend was one in which high involvement with the issue was associated with resistance to persuasion. The less involved subjects, as compared with those who were more involved, showed relatively greater susceptibility to persuasion when presented with the more highly credible source. Involvement among the subjects as a group was greatest at the extremes of the attitude continuum and minimal at the neutral point of the scale. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0635008
Entities
People
- Elliott Mcginnies
Organizations
- University of Maryland