RECEIVER ATTITUDES TOWARD A FOREIGN SOURCE, PERSUASIVE INTENSITY, ANO ' MESSAGE CONTENT AS FACTORSIN ', INTERNATIONAL ATTITUDE CHANGE Thesis for the Degree Of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY H. STUART HAWKINS 1969 HESIS L I B R A R 1 " Michigan Sta to ’ University J” “'1 c"- fi-mf-r—r _. This is to certify that the thesis entitled RAOEIVRR ATTITUDES TOWARD A FOREIGN SOURCE, PNRSUADIVR INTANAITY, AND MADAAGR CONTANT As FACTOhS IN INTRRNATIONAL ATTITUDE CHANGE. presented by H. Stuart Hawkins has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for PILD . degree in CLEII‘ITTI'JIliCBtiOHS fimfmg/ém Major professor] Date February 21. 1969 0-169 ABSTRACT RECEIVER ATTITUDES TOWARD A FOREIGN SOURCE, PERSUASIVE INTENSITY, AND MESSAGE CONTENT AS FACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL.ATTITUDE CHANGE. by H. Stuart Hawkins The effects of student attitudes toward a foreign source, South Africa, at low and high levels of persuasive intensity using messages emphasizing either cultural similarities or differences between source and receiver were investigated with a sample of 217 high school students. Four hypotheses derived from assimilation and contrast and balance theories were tested. Student attitudes toward South.Africa were determined in a pre- test (Time 1), and, on the basis of their responses, subjects were divided into two categories, Neutral to Favorable and Unfavorable toward South.Africa. They were then assigned at random to four experimental treatments, Low and High persuasive intensity, and Similar and Different message content. In a post-test (Time 2) subjects were required to read a neutral message about Australia and an experimental message about South Africa before completing a second series of attitude items. The latter included statements about South.Africa, Australia, and India that had appeared in the pre-test. Attitude change scores between Times 1 and 2 for the South.African items provided data for the main 2 X 2 x 2 H. Stuart Hawkins analyses of variance, while the change scores for Australia and India served as controls. The results indicated that receivers expressing unfavorable attitudes toward South Africa showed more positive attitude change than those expressing favorable attitudes. Furthermore, low levels of persuasive intensity produced more positive attitude change than high levels. No significant differences in attitude change were found between similar and different message content or between male and female students. Implications for the use of low persuasive messages and other indirect forms of communication directed at unfavorable international audiences were discussed, and suggestions for further research were made. RECEIVER ATTITUDES TOWARD A FOREIGN SOURCE, PERSUASIVE INTENSITY, AND MESSAGE CONTENT AS FACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL ATTITUDE CHANGE. By H. Stuart Hawkins A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Communication 1969 Accepted by the faculty of the Department of Communication, College of Communication.Arts, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of PhilOSOphy degree. Director of Thesis Guidance Committee: Chairman ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first debt of thanks is to my Guidance Committee who over- saw the development of this study. To my Committee Chairman, Dr. Erwin Bettinghaus I owe special gratitude for his unfailing patience and assistance, particularly in the hectic period that typically accompanies an attempt to wind up a dissertation and leave the country in a very short time. To Drs. Hideya Kumata, Eugene Jacobson, and Everett Rogers my thanks for their comments, criticisms and advice. To Dr. Lawrence Sarbaugh my thanks for all of these things plus deep gratitude for his advice and inspiration extending far beyond the con- fines of this study, especially during my association with the A.I.D. Communication Seminars. It would be remiss not to mention other sources of help during the course of the study. To fellow graduate students and faculty mem- bers who acted as "sounding boards," I owe much. In particular, my thanks to Drs. Clyde Morris and Gerald Miller, and to Elliot Siegel and John Wallace. To Mrs. Anita Immele my thanks for her unfailing cheerfulness and assistance with data analysis, and to Mrs. Marion Aylesworth my thanks for her help in typing the manuscript. Any expression of appreciation to one's family seems inade- quate after considering the trauma of progressing through graduate school with a growing family, limited finance, and pressures of study. Without the unfailing support of Jane and my children this study would never have reached fruition. It is to them that I dedicate it. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . Review of Literature Rationale and Hypotheses Receiver Attitudes Toward Source Persuasive Intensity of Message Message Content ' Summary 2 METHODS AND PROCEDURES . . . . . . . Introduction Operational Definitions of Experimental Variables Pilot Study Pre-Test (Time 1) Procedures Post-Test (Time 2) Procedures 3 RESULTS 0 O O O O O O O O O O 0 Introduction Reliability Checks Sex Differences Supplementary Data Summary A DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDICIES . . . . . . . . . . . . iv 14 14 14 17 18 22 22 22 29 3O 32 3M H0 42 Table 10. ll. 12. LIST OF TABLES Correlations between item scores and total attitude scores for pre- and post-test statements about South Africa by statements. Mean pre- and post-test attitude scores for South African items - by "favorable" and "unfavorable" categories. Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations for South Africa. Analysis of variance of South African change scores - a summary. Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations - "polarized" data. Analysis of variance of "polarized" South African change scores. Analysis of variance of change scores for three items relating to visiting South Africa. Rank frequencies for South Africa at Time 1 - by sex. Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations - by sex. Mean semantic differential scores and standard deviations for South Africa. Analysis of variance - summary of data from South African semantic differentials. Mean semantic differential scores and standard deviations - Australia. Page 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 29 3O 31 31 32 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Technical innovations during the past two or three decades have increased the scope of international communication to mass audiences. Most countries now have official information agencies that prepare filmed, broadcast, televised or written materials about the country, its way of life, foreign policy, and so on. These communication acti- vities serve a number of purposes. They may be aimed at transforming hostile, suspicious, or indifferent attitudes of other peOple into favorable ones. They may be used to promote favorable "images" of the sending country among members of its target audience. Or they may be directed specifically at encouraging visitors from other countries, as tourists to boost the national economy with foreign exchange, as short-term workers, or as permanent migrants. National information agencies charged with the responsibility for preparing messages to be aimed at these audiences have few guidelines available from either domestic or international research on which to base their message strategies. Producers of official messages must decide on appropriate content and treatment of information to be included in their programs. For example, they may have to decide whether their messages should be "factual" rather than "emotional," how much "political" or "cultural“ material should be included, and so on. To date there is little theory or even empirical evidence to guide communicators in such decision-making. Whether or not they use direct "hard-sell" or indirect "soft-sell" approaches to their audiences appears to be dictated largely by guesswork. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of some key factors which operate in attitude change by focusing attention on three variables considered to be important, namely the intensity of persuasive appeals, attitudes of receivers toward source, and message content. Despite the international flavor of the study, in that‘tge ‘tgpicwinvestigated_concerns modification of high school students' attitudes toward anoreign country, there is nothing uniquely interna- tional about the variables studied, the techniques employed, or the principles elaborated. All are derived from and applicable to "domestic" research. However, it is felt that these variables have special signi- ficance for international communication research, at least as points of departure for further studies.1 Review of Literature A fundamental question facing communicators is whether or not attitudes and opinions can be changed by mass communication. While it is generally accepted that mass media are highly effective in rein- forcing opinions of those already in agreement with the position advocated (Klapper, 1960, pp. 15-18), the evidence of major attitude change is less imposing. Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield (l9h9) were able to demonstrate that, at least under conditions of compulsory m _ LFor a discussion of the implications of domestic research for international communication research, see Kaufmann (1952) and Sarbaugh (1968). exposure found in the Army, some attitude change was accomplished among those both in agreement with and opposed to the communicator's viewpoint. Another early experiment demonstrated the ability of mass communication to form attitudes about a foreign topic. Annie and Meier (193A) were able to build up either favorable or unfavorable opinions about a former Australian Prime Minister, a virtually un- known figure among their.American college student subjects, by means of "planted" materials in newspaper editorials. This suggests that where the tepic is unfamiliar, as is the case with messages about remote foreign nations and newly emerging leaders, simple factual information may produce major changes in social and political images. The further implication is that mass media should prove highly effec- tive when directed to developing nations for the purpose of increasing knowledge about the source country. In addition, messages imparting pleasing or desirable information about the source may have a signi- ficant effect in molding opinions in countries where there is no strong ideological commitment to other foreign nations. A further important aspect of mass communication and persuasion involves the type and intensity of appeal. In a discussion of the nature of propaganda Merton (1947, pp. 524-528) points out that pre- sentation of factual information often may be more effective than strongly persuasive messages in producing attitude change. The "prop- aganda of facts" as he terms it, rather than telling people where to go, shows them how to get there. A person is left free to make his own decision whether or not to follow the direction suggested. Because of this Merton indicates that: The voluntary drawing of conclusions has little likelihood of the aftermath of disillusionment which so often follows on the propaganda of exhortation . . . . If prOpaganda is restricted wholly to exhortation, it runs the risk of inten- sifying distrust. The propaganda of facts can be utilized to supplant cynicism with common understanding. If communicators are to heed Merton's advice it would appear important for them to avoid direct or "frontal" attacks on existing opinions and attitudes, and concentrate on more indirect approaches. A potentially fruitful technique of attitude change which embodies low levels of persuasive appeal is that of "side attacks" on strongly held attitudes (Klapper, 1960; pp. 90-91). Side attacks involve attempts, by indirect means such as feature movies, cultural events, exhibits, etc. which portray interesting and non-controversial aSpects of life in the source country, to add favorable new opinions or beliefs to an existing attitude structure. Although the eventual objective of direct appeals and side attacks is to develop favaorable attitudes, the side attack route is more circuitous and, in Klapper's view, less likely to arouse resistance than the direct approach. By steadily adding new and pleasant information to a relatively undifferentiated attitude structure which has either a neutral or negative evaluation of the source country, it is hoped to develop inconsistencies in the structure, leading to general attitude change preferably in the direction of a more positive evalua- tion of that country. Klapper draws attention to the dearth of information about side attacks. Whereas the mass media have been shown to have a limited effect in changing opinions, he considers they may play an important part in side attacks where, at least to begin with, the aim is to form new ' which nor- opinions. He suggests that "extra-communication forces' mally hinder attitude change are not likely to operate in side attacks, whereas in frontal attacks they are stimulated to immediate and effective activity. The dilemma whether to use direct, highly persuasive messages on indirect forms of persuasion is exemplified in the commercial advertising world. Most advertising executives have their own pet theories of learning, motivation, and how goods can best be sold. There are those, for example, who believe the most effective method is to "sledge-hammer" their audience with a heavy barrage of messages. If this method had not proven successful it is likely that a large section of Madison.Avenue would be out of business. Some critics of U.S. foreign policy claim that recent international communication efforts have been too soft and that much more of the "hard-sell" approach should be adopted (Gordon, Falk, and Hodapp, 1963). The singular successes of Dr. Goebbel's propaganda in pre-War Germany, and of Russia' use of the "big lie" in convincing French winegrowers that American Coca-Cola was poisonous are sinister testimonies to the efficacy of highly persuasive, direct appeals, even if they do raise strong ethical questions. There are also advocates for a milder, indirect approach to salesmanship and persuasion. Representatives of this viewpoint claim that strong exhortations to buy cause prospective customers to raise psychological barriers and resist or avoid the arguments presented (Stroh, 1966). At least one writer has urged the merits of using a "non-directive approach" in advertising appeals. Hadley (1953) likens the indirect approach used by some copywriters to techniques used in non-directive therapy. Although Hadley presents some com- pelling arguments and examples of increased sales resulting from non-directive appeals, McGuire (1966) considers that results of persuasion research do not support the contention that the non- directive approach is the most effective in commercial advertising. He quotes work by Hovland and others which demonstrates that the most effective movies, speeches, etc., are those which are most explicit as to conclusions. According to McGuire, in many adver- tising situations the audience is not motivated enough to carry out " . . . one should not only lead the horse to water, but also push his head under and even pump it down his throat." The diverse opinions and experiences of the advertising world therefore offer few concrete guidelines for developing effective com- munication strategies other than to suggest that both direct and in- direct forms of persuasion may be appropriate under certain circum- stances. The task then becomes to specify and delineate these cir- cumstances more precisely. Some social-psychological theories pro- vide useful leads in this direction. The rationale and hypotheses for the present study, to be outlined below, are developed from two such theories of attitude change. RATIONALE AND HYPOTHESES (a) Receiver Attitudes Toward Source. When a person is exposed to information that is discrepant to his own Opinion, there is a tendency for him to change his position in the direction of the information. Some research indicates that the greater the discrepancy, the more the change (Hovland and Pritzker, 1957). However, other studies have demonstrated reverse effects, and have shown that the relationship may break down under conditions of high ego-involvement and/or extreme discrepancy (Rosnow and Robinson, 1967, pp. 399-h08). Although no attention has been paid to this problem in terms of international communication, common sense and a little extrapolation from existing research suggests that people may respond to arguments up to a point, then reject them as excessively biased or propagandistic, i.e. there is likely to be a curvilinear relationship between intensity of persuasion and change in attitude (Sherif, Sherif, and Nebergall, l965). Hovland, Harvey, and Sherif (1957) have compared the attitude change situation to that in psychophysics in which near and remote "anchors" are given. When the anchor is near, "assimilation" occurs and all judgments move toward the anchor; when the anchor is very far away, "contrast" occurs and all judgments move away from the anchor. They believe a similar phenomenon occurs in attitude change. With information that is only slightly discrepant from the receiver's own position there is attitude change in the direction advocated. If, however, the advocated position is so discrepant that it falls within what Hovland SE _a_]_._ term the "latitude of rejection," there will be no attitude change. In fact, the receiver may "boomerang" further away from both his own initial position and the position advocated. Although the authors are not specific on this point, it appears reasonable to assume, under conditions of assimilation, with increasing discrepancies (or increasingly persuasive messages) there will be greater attitude change, providing the discrepancies lie within limits of assimilation, or the "latitude of acceptance." As soon as information falls outside these limits, there will be no further change in the advocated direction, and as discrepancies increase further, the message may be rejected completely and attitudes may move in the opposite direction to that advocated. It appears reasonable to suggest there will be broader lati- tudes of acceptance for messages from well-liked countries than from less-well liked or disliked countries. This leads to the formulation of the first main effects hypothesis of the study: H1: Messages from neutrally and positively evaluated countries will produce more attitude change in the v” direction advocated than will messages from negatively evaluated countries. A cautionary note must be sounded at this point. According to Insko (1967, pp. 90-91), alternative theoretical formulations, and in parti- cular balance theories, make opposite predictions to those made by assimilation-contrast theory and may account for results more satis- factorily. It would seem wise therefore to examine the predictions one can derive from balance theories and compare them to those developed from assimilation and contrast theory. In his theory of cognitive dissonance Festinger (1957, p. 13) states that: "two (cognitive) elements are in a dissonant relation if, considering these two alone, the obverse of one element would follow from the other." The magnitude of dissonance between cognitive elements depends upon their importance and relevance to the individual. The more important and the more relevant to him, the greater will be the dissonance. Festinger argues that dissonance is an uncomfortable state psycholo- gically which gives rise to pressures to restore consonance or psy- chological equilibrium. A person can reduce his dissonance by chang- ing his beliefs about one or more of the dissonant elements. For example, if he reads a communication that runs counter to his beliefs, such as an interesting message from a disliked country, he may experience dissonance. He can reduce this dissonance by evaluating the message source more favorably, by changing his opinion about the message, or by rejecting both as irrelevant. The first of these three behaviors clearly is the one desired by international communicators trying to improve the image of their countries. If the dissonance framework is accepted as tenable, the pre- dictions made in Hypothesis 1 are reversed. Thus, when a person reads a message from a country he likes he experiences no dissonance, and hence there is no motivation for attitude change. On the other hand, if he is required to read a message from a country he dislikes, he will experience dissonance. One way in which he can reduce this dissonance and restore psychological equilibrium is to evaluate the disliked country more favorably. Therefore, an alternative first hypothesis can be stated: AHl: Messages from negatively evaluated countries will produce more attitude change in the direction advocated than will messages from neutrally and positively evaluated countries. (b) Persuasive Intensity of Message. 10 If the assimilation and contrast principle does hold under conditions of international attitude change it should be possible for communicators designing messages to be directed toward countries known to be friendly or neutral toward the source to use more highly persuasive appeals than in messages directed toward unfriendly audiences. In some countries there are likely to be persons holding widely divergent attitudes toward a particular foreign source. In the present study this point was clearly demonstrated in the preétest described below in which students showed a wide range of attitudes toward South Africa. Evidence from investigations by the U.S. Infor- mation Agency (White, 1952) supports the idea that direct persuasive attempts may be ineffective or even "boomerang" when the source country is evaluated unfavorably. Under these conditions, low levels of persuasive appeals or side attacks may be more effective in producing positive attitude change. On the other hand, highly per- suasive messages should produce more attitude change among those favorably disposed toward the source. This leads to the formulation of an interaction hypothesis: H2: Messages with high persuasive appeal will produce more attitude change in the direction advocated than will messages with low persuasive appeal in the case of receivers who evaluate the source country neutrally or positively, but the effect will be reversed for re- ceivers who evaluate the source country negatively. Substantially the same predictions can be made by applying another "balance" theory to H#2. In their congruity model Osgood, and Tannenbaum (1955) predict that when two attitudinal objects, which have evaluative or "good-bad" signs associated with them, are brought 11 into an incongruent relationship, the pressure to restore congruity or balance leads to a change in the evaluation of one or other or both of the objects, i.e. there is attitude change. Let us suppose a person evaluates a source favorably and receives a positive message about the source. As this is a balanced or congruous situation it can be argued that a more highly persuasive message will produce more attitude change than a less persuasive message. Similarly, a person receiving a highly persuasive message from a disliked source extolling the virtues of that source would not perceive the situation as incongruous. If, however, the message from the disliked source contained little or no persuasive content the receiver would be faced with the incongruous situation of evalua- ting the source negatively and the message either less negatively or neutrally. Hence he might be expected to re-evaluate the source more positively or the message more negatively. Thus the prediction derived from the congruity model substantially supports the predictions in H2 made by assimilation and contrast theory. (c) Message Content. In addition_to receivermattitude toward source and intensity , . A l I l of persuasive appeal,_it is likely_that message content and form will “mu—'- n‘v‘“" \ ‘ influence_receiveriresponsesin In international communication situations content emphasizing the achievements and successes of the source country may be regarded as boastful, or even seen as placing the receiver in poor light. Descriptions of the high standard of living enjoyed in the source country when aimed at developing nations may produce envy 12 rather than admiration. Honest attempts at explaining foreign policy may be perceived as blatant propaganda. There is considerable information available in the persuasion literature to suggest how message structure and organization may influence receiver responses (Bettinghaus, 1966; pp. 1h7-165), but there is relatively little to guide the communicator in his choice of content. A study by Brouwer and van Berger (1960), although designed as a comparison of different attitude measures, throws some light on possible content effects when dealing with international topics. They were interested in using film to induce favorable atti- tudes toward India among Dutch high school children. For their experi- mental stimuli they chose two types of film about India. One portrayed traditional India with its temples, sacred rivers, ancient customs, etc., while the other showed modern industrial India and the progress it was making with its Five Year Plans. In brief, their results show that the film about modern India produced strongly positive attitudes, whereas the film about traditional India produced negative attitudes. Although the study was not designed to investigate differences in content, the findings suggest that information about another country is more likely to produce positive attitude change if it emphasizes similarities rather than differences between the two cultures. Despite the lack of provision for this idea in assimilation and contrast theory, it would appear reasonable to predict that messages perceived as being closer to the receiver's position are more likely to be effective than those perceived as being more distant from that position. Intuitively one would expect messages emphasizing differences. 13 The Amsterdam findings also are very much in line with some of Kelman's (1962) propositions about changing attitudes through international activities. He suggests that favorable attitudes will be induced when a sending country has taken a position or action on an issue that is in line with the position taken or favored by the receiving country. Also, information about events and activities in the sending country that is inherently interesting to the target audience, or is relevant to their needs and concerns, will result in favorable attitude change. The evidence presented above leads to the formulation of a second main effects hypothesis: H3: Messages emphasizing cultural similarities between the source country and receivers will produce more attitude change in the direction advocated than will messages emphasizing cultural differences. Queer}: Receiver attitudes toward a foreign source, persuasive inten- sity of message, and message content are considered to be important factors in international communication. A review of the literature reveals a paucity of empirical evidence in this area. Predictions derived from assimilation and contrast and balance theories are used to formulate hypotheses in the present study. In the case of receiver attitudes toward a foreign source it is possible to make Opposite predictions from the two theories. Main and alternate hypotheses therefore are posited. For the second hypothesis the same interaction effect is predicted by both theories. Assimilation and contrast theory alone is used to predict the main effects posited by the third hypothesis. The methods and procedures for testing these hypotheses will be pre- sented in the next chapter. 1'1 . .. .- p , v . I! f'.—.‘ CHAPTER 2 METHODS AND PROCEDURES Introduction A pilot study was conducted with 50 university undergraduate freshmen to select the experimental source country and pre-test the attitude measuring instrument. The main experiment then was designed to encompass a pre- and post-test of high school student attitudes toward the experimental country, South Africa, and toward two "control" countries, Australia and India. On the basis of their responses to the pre-test (Time 1), Sig were divided into two experimental cate- gories, "Neutral to Favorable" and "Unfavorable" toward South Africa, and were assigned at random to two levels of two experimental treat- ments - "low" and "high" levels of persuasive intensity, and "Similar" and "Different" message content. The post-test (Time 2) was conducted three weeks after the pre-test. At this time, Slg were asked to read a neutral message about Australia and an experimental message about South Africa. No message was presented about India. Attitudes toward South Africa, Australia, and India then were measured again, and change scores between Times 1 and 2 computed to provide data for 2 x 2 x 2 analyses of variance. Operational Definitions of Ex erimental Variables - P (a) Receiver Attitude Toward Source. One of the three main var- iables investigated in this study was S's attitudes toward South Africa 1h In the first part of the pre-test questionnaire Q's were asked to rank-order lO given countries, including South Africa, in terms of their feelings about them (see Appendix A for the scale and countries included). On the basis of their responses they were divided into two categories. Those ranking South.Africa in positions 1 through 7 as "Favorable to Neutral," while those ranking South {34 were labele Africa in positions 8 through 10 were labeled "Unfavorable." While these categories were extremely arbitrary in that each represented approximately half the total sample rather than any absolute measure of positive or negative attitude toward South Africa, it was hoped that experimental treatment effects would be sufficiently marked to produce significant differences between categories. For a second analysis it was decided to "polarize" the cate- gories by selecting those Sis who had ranked South.Africa in position 10 for the "Unfavorable" category, and positions 2 through 5 for the "Neutral to Favorable" category to see if different results might be obtained. (b) Message Intensity. What constitutes a more intense or persuasive appeal in a message is indeed a thorny question. In a re- cent review of the effects of fear arousal on attitude change Janis (1957) concludes that there is no simple, definitive, or unequivocal way of defining appeal intensity. There have been no satisfactory definitions of "intensity" in other areas of the persuasion literature either. One may view persuasive intensity in a number of ways. For example, one appeal may be regarded as more persuasive than another 16 because of the intensity of language used (choice of verbs, adjectives, etc), the intensity of argument (conceivably it should be possible to develop a number of argumentative statements about a specific topic and have them rated by independent judges to produce a Thurstone-type scale of argument intensity), or simply the number of statements in the message advocating a particular position. There is little evidence in the literature to suggest that one way of viewing intensity is better than another. However, the number of statements advocating a particular position offers the advantage of flexibility for use in messages containing different content, and hence was chosen as the measure of persuasive intensity. For the pur- poses of this study a more persuasive message is defined as one con- taining more statements urging the reader to visit or work in South Africa. In order to determine the latitudes of acceptance and rejection in a meaningful fashion it would be necessary to present Sls'with a wide selection of messages of increasing intensity. However, in the present study this was deemed impractical as each additional level would add h cells to the design. .Assuming a minimum of 20 §LE are assigned to each cell, the addition of an extra level would raise the total N by 80. It was decided to use only two levels of persuasive appeal, Low and High, with the knowledge that it would be impossible to define latitudes of acceptance and rejection. However, it should allow us to find whether there are significant main effects or interactions, which will provide useful leads for further elaboration of the design in subsequent research. 17 In Operational terms, the High PErsuasive message contained 10 statements about visiting or working in South.Africa, while the Low Persuasive message contained only one such statement. (See Appendix B for copies of the messages.) (c) Message Content. In addition to the two levels of per- suasive appeal the messages contained two kinds of content. "Similar" messages contained a number of statements emphasizing aspects of life in South Africa that were very similar to life and customs in the United States. For example, the early history of colonization by Europeans and the subsequent migration of a large percentage of the population gave both countries a very similar pioneering spirit. In more recent times industrial development and modernization with its stress on tall buildings, superhighways, etc. and increasing leisure time has lead to a very similar way of life, love of the outdoors, etc. "Different" messages, on the other hand, stressed aspects of life in South.Africa that are unknown or uncommon in the U.S. For example, the strange and often colorful customs and habits of the native people, including the practice of witchcraft, were discussed, and attention drawn to the presence of wild animals roaming at will in many areas. Where outdoor activities were mentioned, stress was placed on sports such as cricket that are not played in the U.S. (See Appendix B for the full text of the messages.) Pilot Study In Chapter 1 it was hypothesized that people expressing neutral to positive attitudes toward a foreign country are likely to respond differently to messages from that country than are peOple who eXpress negative attitudes. An important task therefore was to Select a country toward which élfi were known to hold a wide range of positive, neutral, and negative attitudes. In view of the sharply divided Opinions about government policies in South.Africa it was decided to pre—test eXperimental messages supposedly produced by officials in that country using a group Of undergraduate freshmen at Michigan State University as Sig. Results indicated that the expected range of positive, neutral, and negative attitudes did exist, and that there appeared to be differential responses to experimental messages. South Africa therefore was chosen as the experimental "source." Pre-Test (Time 1) Procedures Teachers in a number of Junior and Senior social studies classes at East Lansing and Okemos High Schools agreed to collaborate with data collection for the two phases of the main study. Under their super- vision questionnaires were distributed during regular class hours supposedly as part of a survey of student attitudes toward a number of foreign countries. In the first part of the questionnaire students were asked to rank-order lO given countries, including South.Africa, in terms of their feelings about them (see Appendix A for the scale and countries included). They then were asked to complete #0 Likert-type attitude scales relating to statements about these countries. The statements were modifications of some of those tested by Brouwer and van Berger (1960) in their study with Dutch high school children discussed in Chapter 1. Buried at random among the AO scales were 1% statements about South Africa, 3 about Australia, and u about India. 19 After allowing about 15 minutes for their completion the questionnaires were collected by teachers and returned to the experi- menter. Total attitude scores toward South.Africa, Australia, and India then were computed for each S by adding scores from the relevant Likert scales. Of the 221 questionnaires collected at this stage 217 were deemed to be usable. A were discarded because SL3 had failed to put their names on them and therefore could not be matched at Time 2. In order to check the reliability of the attitude measuring instrument inter-item correlations were run separately for the South African, Australian, and Indian items. Post-Test (Time 2) Procedures With Slg divided into "Favorable" and Unfavorable" categories according to their responses at Time 1, they were assigned at random to the four eXperimental treatments - Low and High Persuasive, and Similar and Different message content. Approximately three weeks after completing the first question- naire Sis from the same classes were given a second task. They were told that, in response to some requests for more information about the countries they had expressed opinions about previously, materials had been received from Official information agencies of two countries. They were asked to read this information which included a short state- ment about Australia containing no persuasive appeals, and a longer experimental message about South Africa. (Information in all messages was drawn from official releases and was edited by the experimenter to provide the required treatments.) 2O _:§_were asked to indicate their opinions about the Australian and South.African messages by completing two series Of short semantic differential scales (See Appendix B). Total scores for the messages from both countries were then computed for each S and subjected to analyses of variance. Although these data were not an integral part of the experimental design it was felt they might provide useful supplementary information to support or clarify results of the main analyses of attitude change scores. Following completion of the semantic differentials §:§_were asked to complete 25 Likert-type scales consisting of the same 1h statements about South Africa, 3 about Australia, and u about India which had been included in the first questionnaire. The items about India were included to provide a control, i.e. they would indicate whether there was any major attitude change between Times 1 and 2 when no message was presented. The Australian items were added to provide data on the effects of a neutral message read by all SL5. Approximately 20 minutes were allowed for reading of messages and completion of the questionnaires which were then collected by teachers and returned to the experimenter. A second series Of attitude scores toward South.Africa, India, and Australia then were computed for each S. Several weeks later the purposes and results of the study were explained to and discussed with §:§' There was some attrition of Sls'between Times 1 and 2 due to the Hong Kong 'flu epidemic. 187 of the initial 217 Slg completed both questionnaires. 21 In summary, three experimental variables were investigated. Sig were placed in experimental categories "Favorable" or "Unfavorable" toward South Africa according to their respOnses to the pre-test. They were then assigned at random to the other two treatments, Low and High levels of persuasion, and Similar and Different message content. The experimental data to be presented in the next chapter were drawn from i change scores in attitudes toward South Africa computed from S's responses to questionnaires at Times 1 and 2. Introduction The main findings of the study are given in this chapter. A reliability check of the attitude measuring instrument is presented in the form of inter-item correlations between pre-test items and attitude scores for South.Africa. A check on change scores between Times 1 and 2 is given by tabulating mean change scores for items about Australia and India. Tests of the main hypotheses are reported as treatment means and standard deviations of attitude change scores between Times 1 and 2, with summaries of analyses of variance. Supplementary data reported include mean attitude change scores analysed according to sex differences, and responses to semantic differential items about messages from Australia and South.Africa. ReliabilityfiChecks A check on the reliability of the attitude measuring instru- ment was made by running inter-item correlations for the pre-test and post-test items relating to South.Africa. Correlations between items and total attitude scores are given in Table 1. (See Appendix A for details of the items). 22 23 TABLE l.--Correlations between item scores and total attitude scores for pre-and post-test statements about South Africa by statements. Pre-Test Pest-Test Statement§2 0.59 Statement#15 0.62 #5 0.72 #22 0.76 #7 0.67 #7 0.68 #8 0.6a #25 0.7u #12 0.61 #u 0.74 #15 0.62 imll 0-64 #18 0.65 #2u 0.63 #20 0.u9 #19 0-62 #23 0.7u -#6 0.79 $26 0.66 #2 0-62 #29 0.61 #21 0-66 #31 0.6a #13 0.71 #35 0.71 #17 0.73 #40 0.67 #0 0.73 It will be seen that most of the correlations in the pre-test are in the range 0.60—0.70 and slightly higher in the post-test. The lowest correlation (0.h9 for Statement #20 and total attitude score) was for the item "I would like to migrate to South.Africa" in the pre- test. In order to determine whether changes occuring between Times 1 and 2 were due to extraneous factors other than the experimental treatments, change scores were computed for the four items relating to India, a country about which no messages had been presented. There were no significant differences between attitude scores for Times 1 and 2 (Mean change score = 0.06; s.d. 3 1.67; t = 0.0%). All Slg received the same neutral message about Australia at Time 2. There were no significant differences in change scores for the three Australian items common to both questionnaires (Mean change score 3 1.77; t = 0.05). The results Of these checks indicate that the measuring instrument was reliable and that significant differences reported between treatments were likely to be the result of those treatments. Test of the Main Hypotheses The basic data in the study were derived from Likert-type scales administered at Times 1 and 2. A maximum score of 56 was ossible for S's favorable toward South.Africa and a minimum score P __ : of 0 for those unfavorable. Mean pre-and post-test attitude scores for the South African items are given in Table 2. . 4". -‘- '1- mug TABLE 2.--Mean pre-and post-test attitude scores for South.African items - by "favorable" and unfavorable" categories. Favorable Unfavorable EEeigest' ii: 38.25 2': 28.53 sd = 6.u9 sd 2 6.72 Post-Test 7 = 39.31 '7' = 31.75 sd = 7.7A sd 3 7.24 For each of the 187 §:§_wh0 completed both questionnaires it was possible to compute change scores for their attitudes toward South Africa (based on 14 items), India (A items), and Australia (3 items). The latter two scores served as controls. The main data analysis involved a 2 x 2 x 2 analysis of variance. In order to use an existing computer program it was necessary to have equal ng in the 8 treatment cells. Due to attri- tion between Times 1 and 2, two of the cells had only 22 8'3 while the 25 other cells had between 23 and 26. A total of 11 8'3 were drawn at random from these latter six cells to equalize their sizes. Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations for the eight experimental treatments are presented in Table 3. TABLE 3.--Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations for South.Africa. "fi% Total N : 176 LEVEL OF PERSUASION Trtmt.N's I 22 Low High MESSAGE CONTENT Similar Different Similar Different J I i. .‘w ATTITUDE TOWARD __ _. ‘_ ._ .1, SOURCE x = 1.36 x = 3.1a x Z -0.50 x = 0.23 x = 1.06 sd = u.51 sd =-h.36 sd = 10.14 sd = u.96 sd = 6.u9 Favorable 7': n.5u 7'2 n.1u 7': 2.1u 7': 2.05 7'- 3.22 Unfavorable sd = 6.25 sd = 5.63 sd = n.7a sd = 5.72 sd = 5.65 x = 3.30 : sd = 5.31 7': 0.98: sd = 6.74 SIMILAR: 7': 1.89 ; Sd = 6.9u DIFFEREN‘: 7': 2.38 ; sd = 5.31 The results of an analysis of variance of these data, summarized in Table A, indicate that Slg classified as unfavorable toward South .Africa show more positive attitude change than do those classified as favorable to neutral, a finding significant at the 0.05 level of probability. This finding is the reverse of predictions made in Hypothe- sis #1 but supports those made in Alternate Hypothesis #1. 26 TABLE 4.--Analysis of variance of South African change scores - a summary Source of variation S.S df M.S. F a - Receiver attitude 205.11 1 205.11 5.59 * b - Persuasive level 236.45 1 236.45 6.45 * c - Message content 11.00 1 11.00 0.30 Interaction ab 0.20 l 0.20 0.01 Interaction ac 24.75 1 24.75 0.67 Interaction be 1.45 1 1.45 0.04 Interaction abc 5.11 1 5.11 0.14 Remaining error 6162.63 168 36.68 * p = 0.02 The results also indicate that S's receiving messages with fewest persuasive appeals show more positive attitude change than those receiving messages with more appeals, a finding significant at the 0.05 level of probability. It will be recalled that Hypothesis #2 predicted an interaction affect between level of persuasion and receiver attitude toward source. The results fail to demonstrate such an interaction and show that low persuasive messages induced more change than highly per- suasive messages irrespective of the S's attitude toward South.Africa. There was no support for Hypothesis #3 concerning message con- tent. Although mean scores were slightly higher for "Different" messages, a direction opposite to that predicted, the effect did not show statisti- cal significance. In view of the extremely arbitrary method of dividing the group into "Favorable" and "Unfavorable" categories it was decided to conduct a second analysis of varianceusing those who had ranked South Africa ‘1. 1. 27 lowest, i.e. in position 10, in the first questionnaire as §:§_for the "Unfavorable" category. The "Favorable" category was drawn from those placing South Africa in positions 2 through 5. The four §:§_who had ranked South Africa in first position were excluded because of ceiling effects, i.e. their original scores precluded any positive change. Using these "polarized" categories it was hoped to obtain clearer definitions of Favorable and Unfavorable. In order to obtain equal cell E:§_Of 11 for a 2 x 2 x 2 analysis of variance several extra §:§_were required in some cells. In the case of the "Unfavorable" category 4 extras were drawn at random from those who had ranked South Africa in position 9. Similarly, 2 extras for the "Favorable" category were drawn from those who had ranked South Africa in position 6. Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations for the eight experimental treatments in this "polarized" analysis are given in Table 5. TABLE 5.--Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations — "polarized" data. Total N = 88 LEVEL OF PERSUASION Trtmt.N's = 11 Low High MESSAGE CONTENT Similar Different Similar Different ATTITUDE TOWARD 7: 2.27 7: 3.09 7 = 1.64 7: —l.18 7 = 1.45 SOURCE sd Favorable sd = 5.59 sd = 3.91 sd = 3.75 sd = 5.31 sd = 4.82 Unfavorable 7: 5.55 7: 5.64 'x’= 2.81 7: 1.91 7 = 3.98 sd = 8.41 sd 6.52 sd = 4.94 sd 2.81 sd 6.05 7: 4.14 : sd 5.27 7: 1.30 : sd 4.113 SIMILAR: X”: 3.07; sd = 5.91 DIFFERENT: X = 2.36; sd = 5.29 28 The results of an analysis of variance of these modified data, summarized in Table 6, show that, although two main effects remain sig- nificant at the 0.05 level of probability, there is still no significant interaction effect between receiver attitude toward source and level of persuasion. Furthermore, differences in mean change scores between "Similar" and "Different" message contents remain non-significant. TABLE 6.--Analysis of variance of "polarized" South African change scores Source of Variation S.S. df M.S. F a - Receiver attitude 140.11 1 140.11 4.78** b - Persuasive level 177.56 1 177.56 6.07* c - Message content 10.92 1 10.92 0.37 Interaction ab 3.28 l 3.28 0.11 Interaction ac 1.92 l 1.92 0.07 Interaction bc 29.56 1 29.56 1.01 Interaction abc 9.56 1 9.56 0.33 Remaining error 2341.09 80 29.26 55‘: 0.02 **p = 0.03 The main thrust of the persuasive statements in the experimental messages was for readers to visit South Africa. As three items in the questionnaires related directly to this point it was decided to run a further analysis using only the change scores from these three items (nos. 7, 12, and 20 in the Pre-Test, and 4, 7, and 19 in the Post-Test). A summary of the analysis of variance is presented in Table 7. Al— though there were no significant differences, the trend in the second main effect, i.e. persuasive intensity, is the same as on the main analysis and suggests that these statements may have contributed 29 TABLE 7.--Analysis of variance of change scores for three items relating to visiting South Africa Source of Variation S.S. df M.S. F a - Receiver attitude 1.64 1 1.64 0.32 b - Persuasive intensity 14.78 1 14.78 2.91* c - Message content 6.96 1 6.96 1.37 Interaction ab 2.05 1 2.05 0.40 Interaction ac 4.14 l 4.14 0.82 Interaction abc 0.05 1 0.05 0.01 Remaining error 644.77 168 "‘p = < 0.09 relatively more to between-cells variance in the main analysis than the other 11 statements. Sex Differences Another possible determinant of differential effects is sex. Previous findings have demonstrated that females, on the average, tend to be more susceptible to persuasive communication than males (Janis 8 Field, 1959). In Table 8 the frequencies with which South Africa was ranked at Time 1 have been broken down according to sex. TABLE 8.-—Rank frequencies for South Africa at Time 1 - by sex Rank Male Female Total 1 1 3 4 2 3 1 4 3 9 3 12 4 11 8 19 5 l2 8 20 6 9 6 15 7 8 10 18 8 16 19 35 9 18 18 36 10 30 24 54 176 30 In the main experiment there were a total of 98 male respondents and 78 female respondents. Table 9 lists mean attitude change scores and standard devia- tions for the two sexes. An analysis of variance showed no signifi- cant differences in change scores (F = 0.017; p = 0.89). TABLE 9.-—Mean attitude change scores and standard deviations - by sex Mean Change Standard Scores Deviation Frequencyi MALES 2.08 6.90 98 FEMALES 2.21 5.12 78 Supplementary Data Additional information about the effects of the experimental and neutral messages were obtained from the semantic differentials. On each of the four scales presented for the two countries it was possible to score a maximum of 7 points for a "negative" response, thus giving a maximum possible score of 28 to indicate a very unfavor- able reaction to the message. In Table 10 the mean scores and standard deviations for South African differentials are presented. The results of an analysis of variance of the South African semantic differential data are presented in Table 11. These data indicate that §:s_labeled as unfavorable to South Africa also rate messages from that country significantly less favorably than do those who were categorized as neutral to favorable. Furthermore, although non-significant, there is a tendency for §:§_exposed to highly per- suasive messages about South Africa to rate them less favorably than 31 TABLE 10.-—Mean semantic differential scores and standard deviations for South Africa Total N = 176 LEVEL OF PERSUASION Trtmt.N's = 22 Low High MESSAGE CONTENT Similar Different Similar Different ATTITUDE TOWARD _ _ _ _ _ SOURCE X = 11.23 X = 10.50 X = 14.45 X = 10.82 X = 11.75 F75 Favorable ‘ ' sd = 3.32 sd = 4.08 sd = 5.99 sd = 4.27 sd = 4.72 2': 13.73 2’: 15.68 X": 15.32 2': 15.59 2': 15.20 Unfavorable sd = 5.80 sd = 5.72 sd = 5.36 sd = 5.04 sd = 5.46 a 4 2': 12.73; sd = 5.19 §'= 14.17; sd = 5.49 E33 SIMILAR: X-= 13.81; sd = 5.40; DIFFERENT: Xi: 13.15; sd = 5.36 than 8'8 exposed to less persuasive messages. TABLE 11.--Ana1ysis of variance - summary of data from South African semantic differentials Source of Variation S.S. df M.S. F a - Receiver attitude 525.09 1 529.05 20.77** b - Persuasive level 84.57 1 84.57 3.34* c - Message content 19.11 1 19.11 0.75 Interaction ab 5.57 1 5.57 0.25 Interaction ac 102.02 1 102.02 4.03* Interaction be 71.27 1 71.27 2.82 Interaction abc 1.45 l 1.45 0.06 Remaining error 4247.82 168 **p = < 0.0005 *p = < 0.07 The mean scores and standard deviations for the semantic dif- ferential items about Australia are presented in Table 12. It is clear 32 there are no great variations between treatment groups although the over- all mean indicates that §:§_generally rated the Australian messages more favorably than the South African messages. However, they also ranked Australia much higher than South Africa at Time 1. TABLE l2.--Mean semantic differential scores and standard deviations - Australia ’3 Total N = 176 LEVEL OF PERSUASION Trtmt.N's = 22 Low High MESSAGE CONTENT Similar Different Similar Different _ S, ‘.‘. 4 '2‘”) ".4 ATTITUDE TOWARD Y = 9.45 Y = 10.14 I? = 10.73 Y = 9.35 Y = 9.92 SOURCE Favorable sd = 3.59 sd = 3.58 sd = 3.77 sd = 4.15 sd = 3.75 4:1. Y: 10.32 X: 10.14 )7: 10.59 3?: 11.00 E: 10.54 Unfavorable sd = 4.02 sd = 3.36 sd = 4.59 sd 3.34 sd = 3.75 34’ = 10.14; sd 3.51 2': 10.42; sd = 3.97 SIMILAR: Y: 10.40; sd = 3.93 : DIFFERENT: E: 10.15; sd = 3.50 Summary Tests of the main hypotheses showed that the data, while not supporting Hypothesis #1, do support Alternate Hypothesis #1 indicating that there was more attitude change among §:§_unfavorab1e toward South Africa than among favorable Sis: Although there was no support for Hypothesis #3 concerning message content, there was a significant main effect for Hypothesis #2 which had posited an interaction effect be- tween receiver attitudes toward source and level of persuasion. How- ever, the results indicate there is greater attitude change at low levels of persuasion irrespective of 8's attitudes toward South Africa. 33 In a supplementary analysis it was shown there were no sex differences in responses. The implications of the findings will be discussed in the next chapter. CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION The results of testing the main hypotheses will be discussed in F7 this chapter, and the implications of these results for comparing two ‘1 major attitude change theories will be examined. An explanation of the partial support of Hypothesis #2 concerning persuasive intensity will be presented, and an analysis made of possible reasons for the lack of ‘11 support for Hypothesis #3 relating to message content. Practical im- -~ plications of the findings for international communication will be . given, and some suggestions made for further research. It will be recalled that in Chapter 1 a note of caution was sounded about the opposite predictions made by assimilation and con— trast and balance theories of attitude change. Assimilation and con- trast theory was used in the present study to develop the rationale for Hypothesis #1 which predicted that persons favorable toward South Africa would show more attitude change than those who were unfavorable. On the other hand, cognitive dissonance theory provided the rationale for making the opposite predictions put forward in Alternate Hypothesis #1. The results of the present study suggest that dissonance theory was the better predictor of the two. 'In his theory of cognitive dissonance, Festinger (1957) postu- lates that the greater the inducement offered to a subject to adopt a 34 35 position with which he does not agree, the less the resultant attitude change. This inducement could be in the form of reward or forced com- pliance. The position of students completing questionnaires in the classroom for an external study can be classified as a very low reward, low compliance situation. In terms of Festinger's theory it can be argued that §:§_who earlier had rated South Africa unfavorably might experience dissonance when required to read a message from that country. FUrthermore, according to dissonance theory, the more they disliked the message source, the more they would change in the direction advocated, at least under conditions of low compliance. The empirical support for a dissonance theory explanation of the results of this study, and the reversal of predictions made from assim- ilation and contrast theory therefore appear to add fuel to the fires of controversy surrounding comparisons of these two theoretic areas. It will be recalled that Annis and Meier (1934) were able to produce major changes in student opinions about an unfamiliar foreign topic with their "planted" editorials. Conceivably those who ranked South Africa favorably at Time 1 may have had a higher level of know— ledge about the country than those who ranked it unfavorably. If this were so we could expect §:s_with a poor knowledge about the country to have greater potential for attitude change when presented with inter- esting factual and persuasive material than would those already more knowledgeable and favorably disposed toward the country in the first place. Without any data about relative knowledge levels this is, how- ever, merely speculation about what factors might be operating. 36 However, it suggests that knowledge level is a variable deserving closer scrutiny in future studies of this nature. Practical implications may be drawn from the findings. It would appear that information agencies have more to gain from presenting simple factual material about the source to unfavorable than to favor- able audiences. Providing the attention of the unfavorable audience can be captured and maintained there is likely to be a greater "pay- off" in terms of developing favorable attitudes toward the source, or of diminishing hostilities, than when messages are directed at neutral or favorable audiences. The problem, of course, is to obtain and main- tain the attention of an unfavorable audience. In the classroom situation when §:s_are asked to read messages from a disliked source they are more or less obliged to comply, implicitly by custom rather than explicitly by direction. On the other hand, listeners to broad- casts or newspaper and magazine readers are not under such conditions of mild surveillance and can easily avoid exposure to the messages. For this reason the results relating to Hypothesis #1, while pointing out the value of communicating to unfavorable audiences, do not in- dicate how to affect or change them. A clue to solving this problem is offered in the results of testing Hypothesis #2. The interaction effect posited in Hypothesis #2, developed from assimilation and contrast theory and supported by congruity theory, was not confirmed. However, there was a significant main effect show- ing that messages with low levels of persuasive content produced more attitude change than those with high levels. While this result appears , 37 to weaken further the case for using assimilation and contrast as a predictive theory, it can be argued that the highly persuasive messages fell outside the latitudes of acceptance of both favorable and unfavor- able groups, whereas the less persuasive messages fell within these limits. In order to clarify this point it would be necessary to design a series of messages ranging from zero persuasive appeal to much higher levels than were used in the present experiment. Under these conditions it might be possible to demonstrate the curvilinear effect predicted by assimilation and contrast theory. The finding that low levels of persuasion are more effective than high levels for a disliked source fits well with Osgood and Tannenbaum's congruity principles outlined above. That is to say, a highly persuasive message coming from a disliked source appears less incongruous to a receiver than does a low persuasive message. Hence, the motivation for attitude change will be greater with the low level of persuasion. The results from testing Hypothesis #2, which indicate that low levels of persuasion produce more attitude change than high levels, also lend support to Klapper's (1960) notions about "side attacks" and Merton's arguments about the efficacy of "propaganda of facts." It appears that presentation of interesting and non-controversial factual material is less likely to excite resistance to attitude change when a few persuasive statements are used than when a larger number are used. Clearly, it would be interesting to find out whether this effect holds also when other forms of message "intensity" are used. For example, the type of argument or the choice of language may be an important con- . 38 sideration and requires further elucidation. Under conditions of international communication there are clear implications for the finding that low levels of persuasion are more effective than high levels in producing positive attitude change. Communicators should concentrate on presenting interesting factual materials without recourse to strong persuasive appeals if friendly attitudes toward the source country are to be developed and maintained. Although statistically inconclusive, the analysis of semantic differen- tial scores suggests that highly persuasive messages tend to be evalu- ated less favorably than low persuasive messages. The absence of significant differences between male and female respondents is somewhat surprising. Earlier research (Janis and Field, 1956) has shown that, on the average, females are more easily persuaded than males. One wonders, therefore, whether §:s_of high school age truly represent the general population in terms of persuasibility, and whether their responses can be generalized to the population at large. There is also the question of generalizing these findings to predicting effects of messages directed to audiences in developing countries where educational levels are likely to be much lower than the sample population of U.S. high school students. In view of the greater attitude change demonstrated by the "unfavorable" category in the present study, and the earlier suggestion that this change could be related to lower knowledge level, it is conceivable that greater rela- tive changes could be obtained with messages sent to a developing country than with the same messages sent to a highly developed country. 39 Clearly, as mentioned earlier, further elucidation of the role of know— ledge level on persuasibility is required. The absence of any support for Hypothesis #3 concerning message content is disappointing. While it is possible that content emphasizing cultural similarities and differences between the two countries does not exert a marked influence on the outcome of attitude change attempts, it is perhaps more likely that the messages employed in the study were not sufficiently "similar" or "different" to obtain this effect. The use of films about the source country may be a better way of investiga- ting this effect. In view of the significant differences demonstrated in the Brouwer and van Bergen (1960) study the area of message content would appear to be worth pursuing further, but with more extensive pre- testing of messages. There is a need to investigate different types of content also. The early work of Hartmann (1936) raised significant questions about the relative efficacy of "emotional" and "rational" material in political leaflets. This needs to be extended to tests of political and non- political material of various kinds on international audiences. In summary, the findings of this study provide empirical support for the use of "soft-sell" and indirect methods of attitude change such as side attacks and Merton's "propaganda of facts" as effective tools for inducing favorable attitudes toward the source country, particu- larly when the target audience is known to hold unfavorable opinions about the source. Further research is needed to clarify the intensity of appeals that might be used with audiences of differing educational levels, and to specify the type of content to include in persuasive messages. BIBLIOGRAPHY . Annis, A. D. 8 Meier, N. C. The induction of opinion through suggestion by means of planted content. Journ. Soc. Psychol. (1934) 5: 65-81. Bettinghaus, E. P. "Persuasive Communication." New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968. Brouwer, M. 8 van Bergen, A. "Communication Effects of Attitudes Towards India: a Scale Comparison Experiment." Amsterdam: Univ. of Amsterdam (mimeo), 1960. Festinger, L. "A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance." Evanston, Ill.: Row, Peterson, 1957. Gordon, G. N., Falk, I., 8 Hodapp, W. "The Idea Invaders." New York: Hastings House, 1963. Hadley, H. H. The non-directive approach in advertising appeals. Journ. appl. Psychol. (1953) 31:496-498. Hartmann, G. W. A field experiment on the comparative effectiveness of "emotional" and "rational" political leaflets in determining election results. Journ. abn. soc. Psychol. (1936) 31599-114. Hovland, C. I., Harvey, O. J., 8 Sherif, M. Assimilation and contrast effects in reactions to communication and attitude change. Journ. abn. soc. Psychol. (1957) 55:244-252. Hovland, C. I., Lumsdaine, A. A., 8 Sheffield, F. D. "Experiments in Mass Communication." Vol. 3, Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1949. Hovland, C. I., 8 Pritzker, H. A. Extent of opinion change as a func— tion of amount of change advocated. Journ. abn. soc. Psychol. (1957) 54: 257-261. Insko, C. A. "Theories of Attitude Change." New York: Appletone- Century-Crofts, 1967. Janis, I. L. 8 Field, P. B. A behavioral assessment of persuasibility: consistency of individual differences. Sociometry (1956) 195 241-259. 40 41 Kaufmann, H. J. Implications of domestic research for international communication research. Public Opin. Quart. (1952) 15:553-560. Kelman, H. C. Changing attitudes through international activities. Journ. soc. Issues (1952) 18:68-87. Klapper, J. T. "The Effects of Mass Communication.” New York: Free Press, 1960. McGuire, W. J. Report of a discussion in Bogart, L. (ed.) "Psychology in Marketing Strategy." Chicago, American Marketing Assoc., 1966. Merton, R. K. "Social Theory and Social Structure." New York: Free Press, 1957. Osgood, C. E. 8 Tannenbaum, P. The principle of congruity in the prediction of attitude change. Psychol. Rev. (1955) 62542-55. Rosnow, R. L. 8 Robinson, E. J. (eds.) "Experiments in Persuasion." New York: Academic Press, 1967. Sarbaugh, L. E. Applying communication principles to international communication. Comm. Spectrum '67 (Proc. 15th Ann. Conf. National Soc. for Study of Comm. (1967) pp. 154-164. Sherif, C. W., Sherif, M., 8 Nebergall, R. E. "Attitude and Attitude Change." Philadelphia, 1965. Stroh, T. F. "Salesmanship: Personal Communication and Persuasion in Marketing." Homewood, Ill.: Irwin, 1966. White, R. K. The new resistance to international propaganda. Public Opin. Quart. (1952) 16; APPENDIX "A" Pre—Test (Time 1) Questionnaire 43 Michigan State University Name Department of Communication Class C. Assign. (10-12) School (16) M F (15) The Department of Communication at Michigan State University is E1 conducting a survey of current student attitudes toward a number of 2 foreign countries. We would appreciate your frank and honest opinions about these countries. All information given by you will be treated as strictly confidential and will be used for research purposes only. i Below you will find listed the names of 10 countries. Please rank them in order of your feelings toward them, i.e. place a 1 against the country you like the most, a 2 against the country you like next best, and so on until you have placed a 10 against the country you like least among those on the list. Peru______ (17-18) Australia______ (19-20) India;_____ (21-22) Poland______ (23-24) South Africa______ (25-26) Canada;_____ (27-28) Ghana_____ (29-30) Japan______ (31-32) Argentina______ (33-34) Great Britain (35-35) 44 In the next few pages you will find a number of statements about how you might feel toward some of the countries you have ranked, and to- ward their peoples. For each statement consider how strongly you agree or disagree with what is said and place a check mark on the appropriate line. Please work quickly but carefully. l. I would like to have a Strongly agree (37) number of people from ‘ Agree Poland living in my Neither agree nor disagree home town.' ‘ Disagree Strongly disagree 2. South Africa is a very Strongly agree (38) interesting country. ' Agree ' Neither agree nor diSagree Disagree Strongly disagree 3. The people of India are unimaginative. Strongly agree (39) 6 Agree Neither agree nor disagree ‘ Disagree Strongly disagree 4. The people of Ghana are Strongly agree (40) sympathetic toward . Agree others. Neither agree nor disagree ' Disagree Strongly disagree 5. I would not trust a Strongly agree (41) South African. ' Agree Neither agree nor disagree I DiSagree Strongly disagree 6. Australians are slow. Strongly agree (42) . Agree Neither agree nor disagree . DiSagree Strongly disagree 10. ll. 12. 13. 14. I would like to visit South Africa when I . graduate. The people of South Africa have many desirable traits. Canadians are very tactless. Peru is a dynamic country. Japanese are lazy. I would like to work in South Africa when I graduate. Polish people often are misunderstood. I would like to visit Great Britain. 45 Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither agree nor disagree agree nor diSagree agree nor disagree _agree nor disagree agree nor disagree agree nor disagree Strongly.agree Agree .agree nor disagree disagree Strongly disagree Strongly'agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly_agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strong1y_agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree _Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ‘Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly_agree Agree agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. The people of South Africa are very cold and unfriendly. I would like to spend a vacation in Argentina. I would like to have a number of people from India living in my home town. A I would like to have a South African for a friend. The people from Ghana . generally are obstructive. I would like to migrate to South Africa. I would like it if my parents adopted a Peruvian child as their own. I consider it a privilege to associate with people from India 46 Strongly agree 'Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree DiSagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ' Agree Neither agree nor disagree DiSagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree . Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly-agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree DiSagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ' Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree . Agree Neither agree nor disagree I Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ' 'Agree Neither agree nor disagree ' Disagree Strongly disagree (51) (52) (53) (54) (55) (56) (57) (58) 23. 21+. 25. 26. 27. 28. 2g. 30. I would prefer not to have anything to do with South Africans. Great Britain is a decadent country. Canadians are thrifty. I would like to have a teacher from South Africa. Australia is a dull country. Poland is a peace- 1oving country. South Africans are un- reasonable in their attitudes toward other people. So far as I am concerned Argentines should stay in Argentina. 47 Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither agree nor disagree _agree nor disagree Iagree nor disagree Strongly agree ' 'Agree _agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly_agree ' Agree ‘agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ' ‘Agree .agree nor diSagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strong1y_agree .Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree . 'Agree agree nor disagree ' Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ' Agree agree nor disagree ' Disagree Strongly disagree (59) (60) (61) (62) (63) (64) (65) (66) 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. South Africans basically are dishonest. I would like to have an aunt from Peru. Japanese are discourteous. Indians are a God- fearing people. I do not see how anyone could be fond of South Africans. In the future I would like to live in Great Britain. The people of Ghana are religiously inclined. South Africans basically are dishonest. 48 Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither .agree nor disagree .agree nor disagree .agree nor disagree agree nor disagree .agree nor disagree agree nor disagree _agree nor disagree Strongly_agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly_agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly'agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree 'Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly_agree .Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly-agree Agree .agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree (67) (58) (69) (70) (71) (72) (73) (74) 49 39. Australians would make Strongly agree (75) undesirable neighbors. ‘ Agree 3 Neither agree nor disagree I Disagree Strongly disagree 40. So far as I am concerned Strongly agree (76) South Africans should Agree stay in their own country. Neither agree nor disagree I Disagree Strongly disagree Remarks: APPENDIX "B" Post-Test(Time 2) Questionnaire Includes the Four Experimental Messages about South Africa HPS = High Persuasive Similar Content LPS = Low Persuasive Similar Content HPD = High Persuasive Different Content LPD = Low Persuasive Different Content 51 Department of Communication Name Michigan State University For Office Use Only Resp.# ( 6— 8) C.Assign. (10—12) Rep1.# (13-14) A short time ago you completed a questionnaire concerning your attitudes toward a number of countries. Many of you expressed interest in knowing more about these countries. We have received information from the News 8 Information Services of two of the countries which we would like all_of you to read. We then would like you to answer a few questions about these countries. Please . give your honest and frank opinion. Remember, your answers to these questions are for research purposes only and are treated as strictly confidential. 52 2, LOOKING AT AUSTRALIA Australia is the world's smallest continent and its largest island. It lies south-east of Asia between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is about 2500 miles from east to west and 2000 miles from north to south - an area of nearly 3,000,000 square miles. About one- third lies in the Tropics. Because the continent covers more than 30 parallels of latitude, there is a wide variation of climate. Snow lies for about half the year on the south-eastern ranges, and during the summer mainland temperatures exceed 100 deg.F.' But because it is an island and comparatively flat, Australia has a more temperate climate than countries in corresponding latitudes. The flatness of the Austra- lian land-mass is due to its age, for its mountains have been worn down through long years of pre-history. Its highest peak - Mt. Kosciusko - is only 7314 feet. ' Trade and settlement of Australia have gone hand in hand. All State capital cities in Australia are associated with ports. In the earliest years of settlement, wool and later gold formed the basis of Australia's export trade. And the pattern is maintained today - farm produce and minerals account for 85% of all exports. Exports of manu- factured goods, however, are becoming more significant in volume and variety as the industrialization of Australia increases. The pattern of trade is changing also. Britain is buying proportionately less of Australia's goods, while Asian markets are becoming larger. Asian countries take 35% of exports today, compared with 15% twenty years ago. The isolation of the Australian continent, and the absence of highly developed predator animals except the dingo or wild dog, made Australia a vast nursery for marsupials. The distinctive feature of marsupials is that they carry their young in pouches. The bounding kangaroo is probably the best known of these. Australian marsupials range in size from the big red or grey kangaroo, which may stand 6 ft. high, to feathertailed gliders the size of a mouse. Probably the strangest animal is the duck-billed platypus which lays eggs but suckles its young. Australia is rich in distinctive birds also. The most famous are the lyrebird and the large flightless emu. The kangaroo and the emu form part of Australia's coat of arms. ‘ Australia is a highly industrialized nation, with a firm basis of heavy industry. Manufacturing employs 27% of the work force and produces 28% of the gross natiOnal product. Industries associated with rapid technological changes and rising living standards, such as engineering, metals, and chemicals, have grown at a much faster rate than those supplying goods such as food, drink, and clothing. Australia's factories are producing and often exporting a wide range Of manufactures including diesel— electric locomotives, aUtomobiles, e arthmoving equip- ment, roller bearings, synthetic fibers, petrochemicals, and so on. 53 Most Australians own their own homes and live in cities. Al- though their preference is still for separate houses on blocks of land, apartments are becoming a more important part of the inner urban scene. 70% of Australian houses are occupied by the owners. Australians own one motor vehicle to every three people, and most employees work a five day 40 hour week. HPS-3 WE WANT YOU IN SOUTH AFRICA! "Throughout the United States today young people are grappling with questions about current social and political problems. However, for many students the most important question concerns their own future. Where should they go and what should they do following graduation? The Republic of South Africa invites you to escape from the ordinary by visiting this interesting and challenging country. A recent visitor, Mr. Stanley Shaw of Whaley-Eaton Publications in Washington, D. C. writes enthusiastically about his experiences. 'There is an exuberance and confidence in the Republic of South Africa that is a refreshing change from the atomosphere of economic hesitancy and doubt that now characterizes the United States. That country now has the pioneering spirit which has made the United States great. It has the natural resources, the manpower, and the sense of manifest destiny which our country seems lately to have lost. The traveler from afar expects, if he was as naive as I was, to see a backward country. Instead he finds the same modernistic buildings reaching to the sky, the same network of highspeed thruways, excellent air, rail and bus services, and, in short, a highly prosperous, balanced economy.’ Mr. White ob- viously liked what he saw. See South Africa for yourself. A quick look at South Africa's early history will show how similar her background is to the United States, an added incentive for you to join us. In 1652 the first Dutch settlers started a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Not long afterwards their ranks were swelled by the arrival of a group of French Hugenots in search of a new home and religious freedom. In turn they were joined by British and German settlers who arrived in the first quarter of the 19th century. With the later discovery of gold and diamonds people from all over the world swarmed in in search Of their fortunes. The labors and foresight of these early settlers led to the creation of thriving agricultUral and industrial complexes on which present-day South Africa bases its economy. With so much in common between the U. S. and South Africa, this is truly a country where you will feel at home. Come on over. About one sixth the size of the United States, South Africa has well under one tenth its population. Much like the U. S. it is a country of exciting geographical contrasts ranging from mountains and deserts to the rich agricultural lands and vineyards of the Cape Province. Further to the north on the high veldt country are found 54 sheep and cattle peacefully grazing where only wild animals used to roam a century or so ago. Space is no problem in South Africa. If you feel hemmed in by bricks and mortar this is the country for you. Despite its vast mineral wealth of uranium and iron ores, coal, diamonds, gold, and other valuable industrial raw materials, South Africa has a truly diversified economy which maintains the country's finances in an exceptionally healthy position. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange lists securities of some 850 different companies representing sugar producers, chemicals, light and heavy industry, retail trade, wineries, and so on. By U. S. standards, tax rates are amazingly low both for individuals and corporations, while living costs can be de- scribed as inexpensive. These are just a few more reasons why you should plan on working in South Africa." LPS-3 A GLIMPSE AT SOUTH AFRICA "Throughout the United States today young people are grappling with questions about current social and political problems. However, for many students the most important question concerns their own future. Where should they go and what should they do following graduation? The Republic of South Africa invites you to escape from the ordinary by visiting this interesting and challenging country. A recent visitor, Mr. Stanley Shaw of Whaley-Eaton Publications in Washington, D. C. writes enthusiastically about his experiences. 'There is an exuberance and confidence in the Republic of South Africa that is a refreshing change from the atmosphere of economic hesitancy and doubt that now characterizes the United States. That country now has the pioneering spirit which has made the United States great. It has the natural resources, the manpower, and the sense of manifest destiny which our country seems lately to have lost. The traveler from afar expects, if he was as naive as I was, to see a backward country. Instead he finds the same modernistic buildings reaching to the sky, the same network of highspeed thruways, excellent air, rail and bus services, and, in short, a highly prosperous, balanced economy.‘ A quick look at South Africa's early history will show how similar her background is to the United States. In 1652 the first Dutch settlers started a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Not long afterward their ranks were swelled by the arrival of a group of French Hugenots in search of a new home and religious freedom. 'In turn they were joined by British and German settlers who arrived in the first quarter of the 19th century. With the later discovery of gold and diamons people from all over the world swarmed in in search Of their fortunes. The labors and foresight of these early settlers led to the creation of thriving agricultural and industrial complexes on which present-day South Africa bases its economy. 55 About one sixth the size of the United States, South Africa has well under one tenth its population. Much like the U. S. it is a country of exciting geographical contrasts ranging from mountains and deserts to the rich agricultural lands and vineyards of the Cape Province. Further to the north on the high veldt country are found sheep and cattle peacefully grazing where only wild animals used to roam a century or so ago. 'Space is no problem in South Africa. Despite its vast mineral wealth of uranium and iron ores, coal, diamonds, gold, and other valuable industrial raw materials, South Africa has a truly diversified economy which maintains the country's finances in an exceptionally healthy position. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange lists securities of some 850 different companies representing sugar producers, chemicals, light and heavy industry, retail trade,' wineries, and so on. By U. S. standards, tax rates are amazingly low for individuals and corporations, while living costs can be described as inexpensive. ' For many years South Africa has maintained close economic ties with the United States. It purchases more than 30% of all American products exported to the entire African continent, despite the fact that it has only 6% of Africa's population. In turn, South Africa exports to the U. S. a variety of manufactured goods and raw materials, even including parts for the U. 8. auto industry. Capital investments in her industries, both by domestic and foreign sources, are extensive. Leading European and American automobile companies have established assembly plants in South Africa and steadily are increasing the "Made in South Africa" content of their products. South Africa's industrial development has been so rapid in recent years that the annual influx of over 50,000 immigrants has been insufficient to satisfy the man- power shortage. Recruiting missions have been sent to many parts of Europe to find skilled wOrkers, and now they are seeking U. S. 'graduates. For those who find the rush and bustle of the U. S. somewhat of a strain, South Africa offers a more leisurely tempo of life with many pleasant recreational diversions. Year round there is excellent swim- ming, surfing, and fishing somewhere along the more than 1,800 miles of coast- line. Warm currents ensure an abundance of game fish within easy reach of the coast as well as great sport for fishermen working from capes and rocks. Tall mountains beckon adventuresome climbers. Even Capetown, the second largest city, offers enthusiasts a mountain with at least 500 different ascents, as well as boasting one of the finest beaches in the world. The mild and temperate climate offers excellent opportunities for many other outdoor activities. -48' 56 HPD-3 WE WANT YOU IN SOUTH AFRICA! Throughout the United States today young people are grappling with questions about current social and political problems. However, for many students the most important question concers their own future. Where should they go and what should they do following . graduation? The Republic of South Africa invites you to escape from the ordinary by visiting this interesting and challenging country. Down in the extreme south of the huge African continent lies the fascinating country of South Africa.‘ One of the last areas to be colonized, it is not all a pretty or gentle country, but it is grand and awe-inspiring. If you feel hemmed in by bricks and mortar South Africa clearly is the country for you. Vast desert areas and soaring mountains fringe on rich agricultural land. Comparatively sparcely populated, its people make up in interest and variety what they lack in numbers. For example, in South- West Africa, one of the main regions of the country, stately Herero women in their tall turbans walk like queens down the streets of its towns. Bushmen, one of mankinds' mysteries, still hunt with bow and arrow in its far corners. South Africa has a quality which in these civilized times is found less and less; it is a land where surprise and contrast lie in wait around every bend of the road, the teeming wild life, the burning desert, the lush green vineyards, and the wide silent veldt all waiting. Its yours for the taki ng if you come to South Africa. The composition of South Africa's population is almost as di- verse as its geography, providing an added incentive for you to join us. The country is made up of a number of national groups, each still preserving their own customs and traditions and talking their own languages. By far the largest of these national groups is the Bantu. This rugged and venturesome collection of tribes migrated to the region from central and northern parts of Africa, often fighting vi- cious and bloody wars with the local inhabitants before settling down. The Zulus, one of the main Bantu tribes, were particularly warlike. Every mountain and waterfall of the area is haunted by legends and fairy tales of their fierce history. Today they are a quiet and friendly people who are famous for their colorful dress. Zulu women in fact have a language of their own with its words formed by the colors and patterns of bead-work on their clothes. Renowned for their hospitality toward visitors, these are people with whom truly you can feel at home. Come on over. Despite the federal government system that encompasses the whole country, tribal chiefs still play an important role as heredi- tary leaders of their clans. Some even achieve the status of gods while still alive. The chief's authority will vary according to his tribe, as he may delegate much of his power to the witchdoctor, a 57 fort of priestly politician found in every tribe. The witchdoctor still performs many duties as medicine-man, herbalist, "smeller-out" of supposed witches, and forecaster of the future. In fact about the only thing he does not do these days is to practice witchcraft. For some witchdoctors practice of their art has made them extremely wealthy. Their earnings come from an unending stream of people seeking advice, and their fees vary according to the seriousness of the complaint. Medicines for a man wanting to find his runaway wife are very expensive, as are potions for a woman who wants her husband to stop beating her. But mere descriptions of life among the Bantu people is a poor sub- stitute for experience. See South Africa for yourself. 5 Former European settlers represent another big part of South Africa's multiracial population. Originally of French, Dutch, German, and British origin they retain many customs and habits of their fore- fathers, not the least of which is their language. In fact, South Africa has two official languages, Afrikaans and English, and many people speak both fluently. In addition there are numerous tribal languages such as Xhosa (the famous "click" tongue), Swazi, Venda, and many others. With such a varied population it would be unnatural for everyone to exist without any arguments or disputes of any kind. So life in South Africa always has been stimulated by competitive rivalries in the population. However, opposites tend to grow together after a time, and it is fascinating to speculate the final shape and form life will take in South Africa. But rather than speculating come and con- tribute your experience. Join us, and share the real achievement of taking part in South Africa's progress. A..h 1‘ ‘__I. ll ‘-n.£-u3 "' The vast open spaces, varied wild-life, and Mediterranean climate are outstanding attractions of South Africa, and represent just a few more reasons why you should plan on working there. Almost nowhere else on earth can you still see so many wild animals in their native state. Great herds of gemsbok (oryx) and Springbok (antelope) roam free and unmolested in the vast game reserves of the national parks. To ensure they will continue free, South Africa has rigid game laws, and hunting, for all practical purposes, is not permitted. For the less adventuresome, the country offers a variety of other sports of which cricket is one of the most popular. The regular "test matches" played against England and Australia rival the World Series in terms of popularity with the people. The mild and temperate climate is ideal for all sorts of outdoor activity, thus lending added enticement to our request for you to join us in South Africa. LPD-3 A GLIMPSE AT SOUTH AFRICA Throughout the United States today young people are grappling with questions about current social and political problems. However, for many students the most important question concerns their own fUture. Where should they go and what should they do following 58 “ graduation? The Republic of South Africa invites you to escape from the ordinary and visit this interesting and challenging country. Down in the extreme south of the.huge African continent lies the fascinating country of South Africa.' One of the last areas to be colonized, it is not all a pretty or gentle country, but it is grand and awe-inspiring. Vast desert areas and soaring mountains fringe on rich agricultural land. Comparatively sparcely populated, its peOple make up in interest and variety what they lack in numbers. For ex- ample, in South-West Africa, one of the main regions of the country, stately Herero women in their tall turbans walk like queens down the streets of its towns. Bushmen, one of mankinds' mysteries, still hunt with bow and arrow in its far corners. South Africa has a quality which in these civilized times is found less and less; it is a land where surprise and contrast lie in wait around every bend in the road, the teeming wild- -life, the burning desert, the lush green vineyards, and the wide silent veldt, all here waiting. The composition of South Africa's population is almost as di— verse as its geography. The country is made up of a number of national . groups, each still preserving their own customs and traditions and talking their own languages. By far the largest of these national groups is the Bantu. This rugged and venturesome collection of tribes A migrated to the region from central and northern parts of Africa, often fighting vicious and bloody wars with the local inhabitants before settling down. The Zulus, one of the main Bantu tribes, were particu- larly warlike. Every mountain and waterfall of the area is haunted by legends and fairy tales of their fierce history. Today they are a quiet and friendly people, famous for their dress and hospitality. Zulu women in fact have a language of their own with its words formed by the colors and patterns of bead-work on their clothes. Despite the federal government system that encompasses the whole country, tribal chiefs still play an important role as hereditary leaders of their clans. Some even achieve the status of gods while still alive. The chief's authority will vary according to his tribe, as he may delegate much of his power to the witchdoctor, a sort of priestly politician found in every tribe. The witchdoctor still per- forms many duties as medicine—man, herbalist, "smeller-out" of supposed witches, and forecaster of the future. In fact about the only thing he does not do these days is to practice witchcraft. For some witch- doctors practice of their art has made them extremely wealthy. Their earnings come from an unending stream of pe0ple seeking advice, and their fees vary according to the seriousness of the complaint. Medicines for a man wanting to find his runaway wife are very expensive, as are potions for a woman who wants her husband to stop beating her. Former European settlers represent another big part of South Africa's multiracial population. Originally of French, Dutch, German, and British origin they retain many customs and habits of their fore- 59 fathers, not the least of which is their language. In fact, South Africa has two official languages, Afrikaans and English, and many people speak both fluently. In addition there are numerous tribal languages such as Xhosa (the famous "click" tongue), Swazi, Venda, and many others. With such a varied population it would be un- natural for everyone to exist without any arguments or disputes of any kind. So life in South Africa has always been stimulated by competitive rivalries in the population. However, opposites tend to grow together after a time, and it is fascinating to speculate the final shape and form life will take in South Africa. The vast open spaces, varied wild-life, and Mediterranean climate are outstanding attractions of South Africa. Almost nowhere else on earth can you still see so many wild animals in their native state. Great herds of gemsbok (oryx) and Springbok (antelope) roam free and unmolested in the vast game reserves of the national parks. To ensure they will continue free, South Africa has rigid game laws, and hunting, for all practical purposes, is not permitted. For the less adventuresome, the country offers a variety of other sports of which cricket is one of the most pOpular. The regular "test matches" played against England and Australia rival the World Series in terms of popularity with the people. The mild and temperate climate is ideal for all sorts of outdoor activity. 60 Now we would like your reaction to the information you have just read about Australia and South Africa. Below you will find a series of opposite adjectives connected by a line divided into 7 parts. If you feel the information you have read, say for South Africa, is very, very interesting place a check mark above #1. If you feel it is quite interesting place a check above #2, if just a little bit interesting above #3, if neither inter- esting or uninteresting above #4, if just a little bit uninteresting above #5, if quite uninteresting above #6, and if very, very un— V interesting above #7. Repeat this for each of the series of adjectives for the two countries. A. In my opinion the information about Australia is Interesting : : : : : : Uninteresting (l7) Unbiased : : : : : : Biased (18) Honest : : : : : : Dishonest (l9) Fair : z : : : : Unfair (20) B. In my opinion the information about South Africa is Interesting : : : : : : Uninteresting (21) l 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unbiased : : : : : : Biased (22) Honest : : : : : : Dishonest (23) Fair : : : : : : Unfair (24) "'1 61 On the next few pages you will find a number of general state- ments about Australia, India, and South Africa. Please indicate your immediate reaction to each statement and how strongly you agree or dis- ‘agree with it by placing a check mark on the appropriate line. Work as quickly as possible. 1. Australia is a dull Strongly agree (25) country. ‘ Agree Neither agree nor disagree . Disagree Strongly disagree 2. I would like to have a Strongly agree (26) teacher from South Africa. ' ‘Agree Neither agree nor disagree I Disagree Strongly disagree 3. The people of India Strongly agree (27) are unimaginative. I Agree . Neither agree nor diSagree I DiSagree Strongly disagree 4. I would like to work in Strongly agree (28) South Africa when I ' Agree graduate. Neither agree nor disagree . ‘ Disagree Strongly disagree 5. I would like to visit Strongly agree (29) India. ‘ Agree Neither agree nor diSagree . Disagree Strongly disagree 6. I would prefer not to Strongly agree (30) have anything to do ' Agree with South Africans. Neither agree nor disagree . DiSagree ‘ Strongly disagree 7. I would like to visit Strongly agree (31) South Africa when I ‘ Agree graduate. Neither agree nor disagree ‘ ' Disagree Strongly disagree 10. 11. 12. l3. 14. 15. India is a peace-loving country. So far as I am concerned South Africans should stay in their own country. In the future I would like to live in Australia. The people of South Africa are cold and unfriendly. Australians are slow. South Africans basically are dishonest. I would like to have a number of people from India living in my home town. ' South Africa is a very interesting country. 62 Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Iagree nor disagree _agree nor disagree .agree nor disagree _agree nor disagree .agree nor disagree agree nor disagree Strongly_agree Agree .agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly_agree [Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree _Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly-agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree _Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) ' HE". . I17 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. Indians are a God- fearing people. I do not see how anyone could be fond of South Africans. Australians would make undesirable neighbors. I would like to migrate to South Africa. I consider it a privilege to associate with people from India. South Africans are un- reasonable in their attitudes toward other people. I would not trust a South African. I would like to visit Australia. 63 Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither Neither agree nor disagree _agree nor disagree _agree nor diSagree .agree nor disagree _agree nor disagree _agree nor diSagree .agree nor disagree agree nor disagree Strongly'agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly.agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly‘agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) 21+. 25. I would like to have South African for a friend. The people of South Africa have many un— desirable traits. 64 a Strongly agree I Agree Neither agree nor disagree ' Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree ‘ Agree Neither agree nor disagree ' Disagree Strongly disagree THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION. (48) (49)