perspective theory

a theory postulating that self-reports of attitudes on rating scales depend on the content and perspective of a person’s attitude. Content refers to the evaluative responses that a person actually associates with an attitude object. Perspective refers to the range of possible evaluative responses that a person considers when rating an attitude object. A self-report of an attitude can change as a result of a change in content or perspective, that is, an actual change in the attitude or in what a person defines as an extremely positive or negative attitude. [originally proposed by U.S. psychologists Harry S. Upshaw (1926–2012) and Thomas M. Ostrom (1936–1994)]

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Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

cause

1. an event or state that brings about another (its effect).

2. in Aristotelian and rationalist philosophy, an entity or event that is a requirement for another entity or event’s coming to be. Aristotle proposed that there were four types of cause—material, formal, efficient, and final. In the case of a sculpture, for example, the material cause is the stone or metal from which it is made, the formal cause is the form or structure that it takes, the efficient cause is the sculptor, and the final cause is the sculptor’s aim or purpose in making it. —causal adj.