Attitude toward the communicator, perception of communication content, and attitude change

The relationship between attitude toward a communicator and perception of the content of his message was explored in 2 experiments. In the 1st, a marked tendency to misperceive the message of a negative communicator by displacing it away from one's own position (contrast) was found. In the 2nd, this tendency was shown to be a direct function of the strength of negative feeling toward the communicator. Similarly, tendency to displace the message of a positive communicator toward one's own position (assimilation) was shown to be a direct function of the strength of positive feeling. Amount of attitude change relates consistently to the perception data. The results are conceptualized in terms of 2 approaches to the communication situation: source orientation and content orientation. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).