Social Judgment Theory

Social judgment theory is one of many theories that tries to explain how people choose one belief instead of another. This theory can explain why people have a hard time letting go of some beliefs and reject other beliefs so readily.

One Truth

For social judgment theory, there is always one truth that conforms with reality. However, there are many cases where several people might disagree about what the truth is.

Definition

When a person decides what she will believe, she compares the new idea with what she already wants to believe and then decides whether to reject the idea.

Zones

People place new ideas in the agree zone, disagree zone or non-committal zone in their head. Thus, people can have an idea in their heads without necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with that idea.

Adaptive Knowledge

Knowledge can be adapted to new ideas. If new ideas are favorable but contradict existing ideas, existing ideas can be adjusted to fit with new ideas.

Ego Involvement

People can think about some ideas in a detached way while thinking of other ideas with high emotion. Ideas that play a large role in an individual's life are often more evaluated instead of being placed in the non-committed zone, and new ideas are more likely to be rejected.

References

• Social Judgement Theory
• Ego-Involvement

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