ABSTRACT
An important part of most definitions of attitudes is that they persist over time. Allport (1935) noted that attitudes “often persist throughout life in the way in which they were fixed in childhood or in youth” (p. 814), whereas Sherif and Cantril (1947) argued that “attitudes, once formed, are more or less enduring states of readiness” (p. 7). Petty and Cacioppo (1981) defined an attitude as “an enduring positive or negative feeling about some person, object, or issue” (p. 7). Consistent with these definitions, there is evidence that attitudes can persist for years or even decades (e.g., Bennett, 1975; G. D. Bishop, Hamilton, & McConahay, 1980; Brown, 1970; Hovland, 1959). Marwell, Aiken, and Demerath (1987), for example, found that the political attitudes of civil rights workers changed little over the course of 20 years. Other kinds of attitudes are also notorious for their resistance to change, such as prejudiced and racist opinions.
