ABSTRACT
This chapter presents survey theory and research on attitude change that results from motivational rather than learning or judgmental processes. The impact of motivational forces on attitudes is illustrated by the observations of three social psychologists who joined a doomsday group to find out what happens when a group's belief is disconfirmed. The chapter reviews several motivational theories that posit an automatic, homeostatic system, akin to a central heating system in a house, that maintains an internal state of harmony within a person. The general notion underlying consistency theories of attitudes is that there is a strong tendency for people to maintain consonance among the elements of a cognitive system. In sum, when dissonant cognitive elements become apparent to a person, the person becomes motivated to find a cause or label for the dissonance. The chapter discusses motivational theories of attitude change and concludes with consideration of Brehm's theory of psychological reactance.
