Beliefs

is judgment about what is TRUE or

PROBABLE

BVA

Values
is judgment of RELATIVE WORTH
terminal values: values which are
end in themselves
instrumental values: values which
are means to the ends

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Attitudes
Is judgment that a given thing is GOOD or Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes are
BAD, DESIRABLE or UNDESIRABLE, or ALL TYPES OF JUDGMENT.
something to be EMBRACED or AVOIDED.
◦The “thing” may be literally anything: a An opinion is:
person, an event, an idea, a proposal for
action, or an action itself. (any) VERBALIZED JUDGMENT.
◦Attitudes predispose us to act in one way This two are connected.
rather that another

Beliefs include judgments that a given object An attitude toward an action or

possesses certain attributes.
behavior was not always predictive
Values include judgments of the worth of these
perceived attributes.
of what action the holder of that
Attitudes, depend on both their beliefs about
attitude might eventually take.
whether the object possesses particular
attributes and the value weightings they assign
to those attributes.

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 A key assumption of BVA theory is BELIEFS

VALUES
“that the message recipients are
rational in the way they form and
modify attitudes on the basis of ATTITUDE
beliefs and values”

OPINION
Used in a very general sense to describe:
interpretations, expectations, and
evaluations – such as beliefs about the
intentions of other people, anticipations
concerning future events, and appraisals of
the rewarding or punishing consequences of
alternative courses of action
opinions are viewed as verbal
“answers” that an individual gives in
response to stimulus situations in
which some general “question” is
raised

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Persuasive Communication
refer to those which deal with
issues that cannot be resolved by
direct observation and which
present conclusions about which
there are differences of opinion
term “attitude”  exclusively: for
those implicit responses which are
oriented toward approaching or
avoiding a given object, person,
group or symbol
opinion attitude
 refer to implicit responses:
intervening variable
there are many attitudes which are
mediated by verbal beliefs,
expectations and judgments and
that one of the main ways in which
communications give rise to change
in attitude is by changing such
verbal responses.
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Change in general approach and
avoidance orientations (“attitudes”)
may affect one’s expectations
(“opinions”) on a number of related
issue.
Conversely, changes in opinion may
modify one’s general attitudes.
One key element in the persuasion
situation is: the “recommended
opinion” presented in the
communication.
Opinion Change
is defined in terms of A CHANGE IN
THE IMPLICIT VERBAL RESPONSE
When we say that opinions are “verbalized” and
are “implicit responses”,
It means that they are verbal “answers” that are
covertly expresses to him/herself in inner speech.
They are thus distinguishable from overt verbal
responses, which are the answers expressed to
others when the question is accompanied by
additional stimuli which either demand or instigate
verbalization of the answer.
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But it sometimes happen, of course, that a person will think
one answer to himself and give a different answer to others.
In such instances the overt verbalizations would be
regarded as inadequate indicators of his opinion – it would
be said that he is “dissimulating”, “distorting”, or “lying”.
If one accepts this usage, the term “opinion” is then
restricted to implicit verbal responses.