THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIOLATIONS OF EXPECTATIONS AND THE INDUCTION OF RESISTANCE TO PERSUASION

This investigation expanded and refined a model of resistance to persuasion developed by Burgoon, Cohen, Miller, and Montgomery (1978). It is argued that a logical shortcoming of this model of resistance to persuasion is its failure to incorporate the notion of confirmation and disconfirmation of receiver expectations. Support was found for the prediction that violations of induced receiver expectations and the intensity of a persuasive message are mediators of resistance to persuasion. Positive violations of expectations induce counterarguing and lead to reversals of initial positive attitudes after receipt of a second message arguing on the same side of an attitude issue. Negative violations of receiver expectations decrease the probability of counterarguing, and increase the vulnerability of people to subsequent persuasive attacks. Strong support for the predictions was obtained in this investigation. Competing explanations for the results were ruled out through the utilization of a counterbalanced design and control procedures. These results provide a partial replication of the earlier empirical evidence supporting this new model of resistance to persuasion and cannot be explained by other models of resistance to persuasion. Moreover, the findings break new theoretical ground in their explanation of findings that appear counterintuitive without reference to this theoretical rationale.