THE RELATIONSHIP OF ATTITUDINAL COMPONENTS TO TRUST IN MEDIA

Past research has proposed that the receiver's relationship to the con tent of a message will affect credibility attributed to the source. Cu rrent literature proposes explanatory mechanisms that require empirica l distinctions among the various components of attitude, yet researche rs often employ measures of ''attitude extremity'' that confound these components. This study follows Guttman's mathematical theory of attit ude and its distinctions between four attitude components: direction, intensity, closure, and involvement In a survey of 358 adults, relatio nships between trust in. television news and newspaper coverage and ea ch of the four components were tested for six current issues. Signific ant relationships were found for all four components. Results suggest that existing hypotheses relating credibility to attitude have not ant icipated that credibility might be related to more than one component. Interactions occur in which the relation of credibility to one compon ent would be modified by the presence of some other component. Theoriz ing that introduces contingencies into the consideration of questions dealing with credibility is suggested.