Attitudinal advocacy in the verbal conditioner.

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Abstract
Investigated the effect of advocacy in a verbal conditioning situation. 135 undergraduates reinforced the opinions of "passersby" concerning the expansion of Federal power: 1/2 reinforced conexpansion responses, and 1/2 reinforced proexpansion responses. The passersby were experimental cohorts, who allowed Ss to experience either successful or unsuccessful verbal conditioning in a way that produced either high or low public commitment to the reinforced position in the conditioner. An advocacy effect was found, such that Ss reinforcing proexpansion responses subsequently became more pro than Ss reinforcing conexpansion responses. This effect was found to be specific to those interview items on which overt advocacy occurred. Results are interpreted according to the self-attribution theory of D. Bem as demonstrating that the self-perception of overt advocacy behavior is a determining condition for the production of attitudinal shifts in the direction of the advocated position. It is concluded that the intention or set to advocate, by itself, is not a sufficient condition for such shifts. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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