Additive effects of utility and attitudinal supportiveness in the selection of information

Abstract

In a 4 × 2 design the effects of utility and attitudinal-supportiveness of information on message selection were tested. From data obtained in the pretest session, subjects were assigned to one of four Prior Attitude levels (Strongly Anti, Anti, Pro, Strongly Pro), and required to make either a Proabortion or an Antiabortion speech. Statements for and against legalized abortion were reproduced on slides which subjects selected and viewed to prepare their speeches. Unobtrusive measures of the proportion of Proabortion slides viewed and the proportion of time spent viewing Proabortion slides constituted the major dependent variables of the study. A main effect of information utility was hypothesized, and this expectation was strongly supported (p