The effects of emotional and rational persuasion on attitudes

The present study investigated the effects of persuasive arguments on attitudes towards abortion. Forty male and female participants completed measures of thier emotions and attitudes towarads abortion and tolerance of abortion. Participants then read one of two communications which were intended to increase the salience of the emotional or rational component of an attitude. Afterwards, participants read an appeal which emphasized the emotional or rational aspects related to abortion. Subsequently, all participants completed a post-test which included the same measures as in the pre-test. It was hypothesized that participants for whom the emotional component was salient, would find emotional appeals to be more persuasive, whereas participants for whom the rational component was salient, would find rational appeals to be more persuasive.