Attitude is a knowledge representation that includes primarily our liking or disliking of a person, thing, or group

Attitude strength The importance of an attitude, as assessed by how quickly it comes to mind

Bait-and-switch technique A persuasion attempt in which the target is offered one product at a very low price and yet the product at the low price is not actually available

Cognitive dissonance The discomfort that occurs when we respond in ways that we see as inconsistent

Door-in-the-face technique A persuasion tactic that involves making an unreasonably large request before making the (intended) smaller request

Foot-in-the-door technique A persuasion attempt in which we first get the target to accept a rather minor request, and then ask for a larger request

Forewarning Reminding an individual that an attempt to persuade may be forthcoming, with the expectation that the reminder will reduce persuasion

Inoculation A mild attack on the attitude position designed to help the potential target create counterarguments to the potential persuasive attempt, with the expectation that subsequent persuasion will be reduced

Insufficient justification The perception that a threat or reward that is in fact sufficient to get the person to engage in or avoid a behavior is not sufficient

Lowball technique A persuasion attempt in which the persuader promises the target something desirable, with the intention of getting the target to imagine himself or herself engaging the desired behavior, before indicating that the desirable offer is actually not possible

Overjustification The viewing of our behavior as caused by the situation, leading us to discount the extent to which our behavior was actually caused by our own interest in the activity

Postdecisional dissonance The feeling of regret that may occur after we make an important decision

Pre-giving technique A persuasion tactic that relies on the norm of reciprocity

Principle of attitude consistency A principle that states that for any given attitude object, the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition are normally in line with each other

Psychological reactance The strong emotional response that we experience when we feel that our freedom of choice is being taken away

Role stress When individuals experience incompatible demands and expectations within or between the roles that they occupy, which often negatively impacts their ability to be successful in those roles

Schema A knowledge representation that includes information about a person, group, or situation

Self-perception The process of using our perceptions of our behavior to help us determine our attitudes toward an attitude object

Sleeper effect Attitude change that occurs over time when the content of a message is remembered but the source of the message is forgotten

Spontaneous message processing When we focus on whatever is most obvious or enjoyable, without much attention to the message itself

Thoughtful message processing The careful consideration of whether a persuasion attempt is valid or invalid