Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion, Article Review Example

Introduction

Previous studies have shown through use of the elaboration likelihood model, that situational and dispositional factors influence the ability to form attitudes through issue-relevant thinking. There is a belief that the relationship between cognition and verbal intelligence explains the differences in message processing and persuasion of individuals. In addition, attitudes that are developed using the central route show greater prediction of behaviors than those formed with peripheral cues. The aim of the first experiment was to define the nature of individuals high and low in need for cognition and the distinction between them. The aim of the second experiment was to determine whether individuals would have more knowledge of the candidates following an election than eight weeks prior, if subjects with a high need for cognition would report having more thorough knowledge concerning the election, and if subjects with a high need for cognition would have attitudes that are indicative of their behavioral intentions.

Study

Participants were recruited from an undergraduate university. They were asked to listen to an audiotape and try to transmit their explanation to an individual sitting in another room. The listener was also a volunteer and would ignore or listen to the explanation according to cue. The listener would then record the thoughts. In the second experiment, volunteers were provided with a pre-election survey eight weeks prior to the election. They were then interviewed after the election and their thoughts were compared to prior survey results.

Results

Experiment 1 indicated that participants that were in high need for cognition are both more likely to think about and elaborate on thoughts and information when forming a decision than those in low need for cognition. Experiment 2 indicated that differences among those in need for cognition caused them to be more likely to think deeply about issues when forming opinions and exhibited stronger attitude-behavior correspondence.