Modeling the ego-defensive function of attitudes

@article{KnightLapinski2001ModelingTE,
  title={Modeling the ego-defensive function of attitudes},
  author={Maria Knight Lapinski and Franklin J. Boster},
  journal={Communication Monographs},
  year={2001},
  volume={68},
  pages={314 - 324}
}
Studying the psychological needs served by holding certain attitudes is the focus of the functional approach to attitudinal research. One function evidenced consistently in attitudinal studies is the ego-defensive function. Attitudes serving an ego-defensive function protect one's self-concept from counterattitudinal messages about the self. This paper presents an alternative perspective for understanding the ego-defensive function by conceiving and modeling it as a causal process. The data… Expand
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