A Summary of the Social Judgment Theory
After more than 30 years of research Muzafer and Carolyn W. Sherif, with the help of several colleagues, created the social judgment-involvement approach to attitude and attitude change. The creators always referred to their work as an "approach" rather than a "theory" (C.W. Sherif et al. 1965, p. 221), but the approach is firmly established as a theory today, so it will be referred to as such.
The key to social judgment theory is that an attitude change on a specific issue will result from judgments on related issues. Since a person's attitude can't be observed using traditional research methods, the social judgment theory was developed (C.W. Sherif et al. 1967, p. 112). Judgments are measured using the ordered alternatives questionnaire established by Muzafer Sherif and Carl Hovland. The questionnaire requires that the participant rate a list of statements as being acceptable, objectionable, or neither acceptable nor objectionable. Results from the questionnaire measure an individual's latitudes of acceptance, rejection, and noncommitment (O'Keefe 1990, p. 31). These latitudes represent what an individual relates to, disagrees with, and feels neutral towards on any tested topic.
These latitudes may be effected by the respondent's level of involvement, or ego-involvement, in a particular issue. That is to say that a person may have particularly strong feelings about a topic and as a result may have a different set of latitudes than someone who has no sense of involvement with the issue being tested. It is also possible for the respondent to assimilate or contrast the message, meaning that a person may perceive a persuasive message as advocating a position similar to their own when it does not, or vice versa (O'Keefe 1990, p. 35). A person's attitude towards an issue can be defined by the set of categories created through the execution of the questionnaire (C.W. Sherif et al. 1967, p. 115). These possibilities are summarized in the following diagram and described in detail using the subsequent example taken from Muzafer Sherif and Carl Hovland's research on prohibition.
A Model of the Social Judgment Process
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