Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

social psychology 
The scientifi c study of how people’s thoughts, 
feelings, and actions are aff ected by others.
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What do Rachael Ray and Tom Brady have in common? Both have appeared in 
advertisements designed to mold or change our attitudes. Such commercials are part 
of the barrage of messages we receive each day from sources as varied as politicians, 
sales staff in stores, and celebrities—all of which are meant to infl uence us. 
Persuasion: Changing Attitudes
Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes, one of the central concepts of social 
psychology.  Attitudes  are evaluations of a particular person, behavior, belief, or con-
cept. For example, you probably hold attitudes toward the U.S. president (a person), 
abortion (a behavior), affi rmative action (a belief), or architecture (a concept) (Brock 
& Green, 2005; Hegarty & Massey, 2007; Simon & Hoyt, 2008).
The ease with which we can change our attitudes depends on a number of fac-
tors, including:
• Message source. The characteristics of a person who delivers a persuasive message, 
known as an attitude communicator, have a major impact on the effectiveness of 
that message. Communicators who are physically and socially attractive produce 
greater attitude change than those who are less attractive. Moreover, the commu-
nicator’s expertise and trustworthiness are related to the impact of a message—
except in situations in which the audience believes the communicator has an 
ulterior motive (Ariyanto, Hornsey, & Gallois, 2006; McClure, Sutton, & Sibley, 
2007; Messner, Reinhard, & Sporer, 2008).
• Characteristics of the message . It is not just who delivers a message but what the 
message is like that affects attitudes. Generally, two-sided messages—which 
include both the communicator’s position and the one he or she is arguing 
against—are more effective than one-sided messages, given the assumption that 
the arguments for the other side can be effectively refuted and the audience is 
knowledgeable about the topic. In addition, fear-producing messages (”If you 
don’t practice safer sex, you’ll get AIDS”) are generally effective when they 
provide the audience with a means for reducing the fear. However, if the fear 
that is aroused is too strong, messages may evoke people’s defense mechanisms 
and be ignored (Perloff, 2003).
• Characteristics of the target . Once a communicator has delivered a message, charac-
teristics of the target of the message may determine whether the message will 
be accepted. For example, intelligent people are more resistant to persuasion 
than those who are less intelligent. Gender differences in persuasibility also 
seem to exist. In public settings, women are somewhat more easily persuaded 
than men, particularly when they have less knowledge about the message’s 
topic. However, they are as likely as men to change their private attitudes. In 
fact, the magnitude of the differences in resistance to persuasion between men 
and women is not large (Wood, 2000; Guadagno & Cialdini, 2002).
Key Concepts 
What are attitudes, and how 
are they formed, maintained, 
and changed?
How do people form impres-
sions of what others are like 
and of the causes of their 
behavior? 
What are the biases that 
infl uence the ways in which 
people view others’ behavior?