The Motivation to Elaborate in a Relatively Objective Manner

Abstract

We have now discussed some of the major variables that can affect a person’s ability to scrutinize issue-relevant arguments in a relatively objective manner. Motivational variables are also important in affecting the elaboration likelihood. If a person is highly able to process a message but lacks the requisite motivation, little processing will occur. In this chapter we first discuss three situational variables that exert an important effect on motivation to process—the personal relevance of an issue, personal responsibility for message evaluation, and the number of message sources. Then, we discuss an individual difference variable we have developed that assesses motivation to think—the need for cognition.