Persuasion and attitude change

Attitudes refer to the general and relatively enduring evaluations people have of other people, objects, or ideas. These overall evaluations can be positive, negative, or neutral, and can vary in their extremity. For example, one individual might view exercise in a mildly positive way, whereas another might be wildly positive, and another might be somewhat negative. Individuals can hold attitudes about very broad or abstract constructs (e.g., freedom) as well as very concrete and specific things (e.g., a particular brand of chewing gum). Attitudes are of interest because they often drive behavior. That is, people tend to act favorably toward things they like (e.g., purchase, marry) and unfavorably toward things they do not like.