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Social Judgment Theory

The popular American journalist, Sydney J. Harris, once wrote that when he hears people say that life is hard, he wonders what they are comparing life to. His point, of course, is that perceptions are relative. Next to one person, another person might seem unlucky; next to another, that same person might seem fortunate. This notion—that we make judgments based on comparisons—forms the basis of social judgment theory, sometimes called assimilation-contrast theory and social judgment-involvement theory. The theory makes important contributions to understanding communication and attitude change, explaining the ways in which listeners distort, judge, and respond to persuasive messages on the basis of prior attitudes. The major principles and concepts of the theory explored in this entry include the structure of attitudes, assimilation and contrast effects, and the role of message discrepancy and ego involvement in attitude change.

The person most often credited for developing and testing social judgment theory is Muzafer Sherif, although Carl Hovland and Carolyn Sherif were also important contributors. The theory emerged from early research on psychophysics, which suggested that context influences people's judgments of physical stimuli. Sherif and Hovland applied such principles to the study of attitudes in a monograph that was published in 1961, shortly after Hovland's death. Later, in collaboration with his wife and colleague, Carolyn Sherif, M. Sherif further developed the theory, and other researchers have refined the theory as well.

The Structure of Attitudes

A unique feature of social judgment theory is that it conceptualizes an attitude as a range of possible positions on some issue rather than as a single point along some continuum of possible positions. By way of illustration, here are several positions, some extreme and some moderate, on the topic of how society should approach the use of marijuana:

  • Any person convicted of using marijuana should receive a severe prison sentence.
  • Any person using marijuana should be convicted of a misdemeanor.
  • Any person using marijuana should receive a stiff fine.
  • Any person using marijuana should be referred to a substance abuse program.
  • Marijuana should only be legal for people using it for medicinal purposes.
  • Any person who wants to use marijuana in private should be free to do so.
  • Employers should not be permitted to drug test employees for marijuana.
  • The government should legalize marijuana and promote its use.

Social judgment theory argues that, for any given person, the positions on this continuum can be categorized as falling into one of three areas or latitudes. First, the latitude of acceptance includes all the positions on a continuum that a person finds acceptable. Among these acceptable positions is the person's most preferred position, known as the anchor point. In addition, the latitude of rejection includes all the positions on a continuum to which a person is strongly opposed. Finally, the latitude of noncommitment includes positions on the continuum that a person feels ambivalent about. If, for example, Julian agreed most with position 2—that marijuana use should result in a misdemeanor—position 2 is Julian's anchor point. Although she may prefer this position, she may believe that imprisoning, fining, or referring marijuana users to substance abuse programs (positions 1, 3, and 4) would be all right, too. Together with her anchor point, then, these positions represent Julian's latitude of acceptance. Meanwhile, if Julian is adamantly against allowing the private use of marijuana, making employee drug testing illegal, and legalizing or promoting marijuana, positions 6, 7, and 8 fall within her latitude of rejection. If Julian feels neutral about whether marijuana should be legal for medicinal purposes, position 5 falls in her latitude of noncommitment.

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