Social Judgment Theory


by Muzafer Sherif

With the help of his wife Carolyn, Muzafer Sherif, a psychologist associated with the University of Oklahoma developed a theory of Social Judgment. Carolyn was the first to study this and then passed her knowledge on to her husband for further research with fellow theorist Rodger Nebergall.

Social Judgment theory refers to the "subconscious sorting out of ideas that occur at the instant of perception"(196). As a person hears information we automatically put the information into sections of our mind of what we do and don't want to hear. This is usually based on our present point of views.

There are three latitudes that are used to determine a person's level of comfort during arguments:

LATITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE

LATITUDE OF NON-COMMITMENT

LATITUDE OF REJECTION

Ego involvement, the level at which we hold a particular issue, is another big part in our decision-making. If you would like to influence a person to make a certain decision, you need to have a good understanding of the relationship between ego involvement and the latitudes of acceptance, rejection, and non-commitment, so that a person has the right mental process when they notice a message.


For research to back up the Theory of Social Judgment go toKellie's page

For an application of the Social Judgment Theory go to Matt's page

For a critique of the theory go to Allison's page

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A theory that relates to Social Judgment is Uncertainty Reduction Theory. To read about the theory and see how they are similar, click HERE

Griffin, Em. A First Look At Communication Theory: New York: McGraw-Hill 1997