Just answer the two questions about the discussion post
Social Judgment Theory and Attitude Anchors
Contains unread posts
Sierra Hall posted Oct 12, 2022 9:50 AM
Hi everyone!
In chapter 8 we read about social judgement theory and how it impacts persuasive efforts. The chapter begins with the statement, “How we perceive something depends in part on what we are comparing it to.” The something we compare our experiences to is called an anchor.
There are many anchors that a person attaches experiences to, the social judgment theory suggests that there are a range of attitudes rather than one single point in our experiences.
An example I can think of that we all probably experience a range of attitudes on would be politics. I haven’t met anyone who sees politics as black and white only experiencing one attitude. In example, this would be someone who agrees with everything one politician says or does. We all experience a latitude of acceptance, so we may disagree and agree with different actions of politicians and the issues we value most will determine our overall feelings of a candidate.
When I am deciding if I will vote for a candidate or not, societal issues are most important to me. Therefore, my latitude of acceptance favors the issues of universal healthcare, equality for all, and immigration rights. If a candidate has different opinions than me on those issues, it is a contrast to mine and I cannot support them with my vote, this would be my latitude of rejection.
A personal example of attitude change for me would be in my healthcare views. When I was younger, I didn’t understand healthcare as I was still on my family plan. As I got older and discovered more about it, I experienced an anchor shift and now a candidate must align on my healthcare views to gain my vote.
Questions:
Q1: Have you ever experienced a shift in your attitude anchor?
Q2: After reading the chapter, have you been able to identify key points on your latitude of acceptant or altitude of rejection? If so, do you mind sharing an example?
