Commitment of Audience, and Legitimacy and Attitudinal Stance of Communicator: A Test of the “Woodwork” Hypothesis

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Abstract
Based upon an analysis of anecdotal evidence in social reality, a laboratory experiment was carried out in which were varied: one's prior commitment to consonant behavior and the legitimacy and attitudinal stance (agreedisagree) of a communicator Legitimacy of a communicator was defined as independent of his prestige, sincerity, and personal attractiveness, and limited to his qualifications to speak on a specific issue. A variety of measures were taken to define Ss' perceptions of legitimate and illegitimate communicators. Legitimacy tended not to affect uncommitted Ss. Committed Ss responded positively to the legitimate communicator and negatively (boomerang) to the illegitimate speaker, regarding attitude change, behavioroid measures, and information-seeking, regardless of the attitudinal stance of the communicator.

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