Self-Referencing

The tendency of subjects to employ a self-referencing strategy when processing messages was manipulated by varying message writing style. Recall of message content was higher in the high self-referencing than the low self-referencing condition. Self-referencing was also found to produce attitude and cognitive response effects similar to effects obtained in other research that employed involvement inductions. When self-referencing and argument strength were manipulated in a factorial design, it was found that arguments had a greater impact on attitude and cognitive responses under high self-referencing than under low self-referencing.