Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches

There are many people to thank in preparing this text. First, we would like to thank John Harvey, a friend and colleague at Vanderbilt University who first suggested to us the idea of writing this book. Four other colleagues ( Hal Sigall, University of Maryland; Icek Ajzen, University of Massachusetts; David R. Shaffer, University of Georgia; and Mark P. Zanna, University of Waterloo) provided detailed comments on the first draft of the text that were thoughtfully prepared and most helpful. Chet Insko ( University of North Carolina) graciously consented to our request to write the foreword. We also acknowledge a debt to the earlier works on attitude change from which we learned so much (especially Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; Insko, 1967; Kiesler, Collins, & Miller, 1969; and McGuire, 1969b). We are grateful to our advisors in graduate school, Tim Brock and Tony Greenwald of Ohio State University, whose enthusiasm about scientific inquiry was contagious and who gave us the freedom and guidance to pursue those research topics that we found most appealing. Our editors at the Wm. C. Brown Co. ( Susan Soley and Marian Warner), our colleagues at the universities at which we served ( Missouri, Iowa, and Notre Dame), our students (especially Martin Heesacker and Charlotte Lowell), and our secretaries ( Lenore Hizer and Sue Staub) also made valuable contributions to the text. Much of our own research reported in this text was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (BNS 7818667, 7913753, 8023589), the National Institute of Mental Health (31798-01, BRSG-G603), and our universities ( Research Council summer grants, Old Gold Fellowship, Faculty Scholar Award No. A240). Finally, and most importantly, we are grateful for Lynn and Barbara who fill our lives with joy and love.

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