ABSTRACT
The multiple source effect on processing only occurred when the sources were described as independent or representing different perspectives. The "first-generation" questions linking sources to elaboration examined conceptual main effects of a given source-related variable on the amount of elaboration undertaken. In addition to early work linking discrepancy between message position and prior attitudes to amount of processing, the dual- and multi-process models also inspired research linking properties of pre-message attitudes to message processing. One key property of attitudes is the degree to which people hold mixed or conflicted opinions. Research using the Elaboration Likelihood Model framework has directly linked the elaboration of initial information to attitudes that successfully resist subsequent attempts at changing those attitudes. One potential shortcoming of motivational manipulations of elaboration is that the motivation may carry through the receipt of the attacking message, thereby creating different levels of processing of the attacking message as well as the initial message.
