Self-validation processes

What determines whether or not people change their attitudes? Early empirical research focused on the idea that attitude change depended on the extent to which people were able to comprehend and retain the information contained in a persuasive message (e.g., Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; Hovland, Lumsdaine, & Sheffield, 1949). Later, it was shown that the ability to learn the information (e.g., message arguments) was not as important in attitude change processes as how individuals cognitively responded to or elaborated upon that information (e.g., Brock, 1967; Greenwald, 1968; McGuire, 1964; Petty, Ostrom, & Brock, 1981).