Belief and Emotion Correlates with Changes in Attitude as a Result of Suggestion

Prior research has shown that suggestion can influence believe in the occurrence of the event as well as other attitudes that are related to the object of the suggestion. While researchers have proposed autobiographical belief as a mechanism for the change in attitudes, this hypothesis has not been tested. The current study aimed to determine whether autobiographical belief accounts for the change in attitudes toward a food as a result of suggesting a childhood food-related illness. One hundred and thirty psychology undergraduates participated in the two-part randomized experiment. Contrary to predictions, autobiographical belief did not directly account for the changes in attitude toward the food. In addition, direct and indirect forms of attitude change were observed for the influence of suggestion. The results are discussed in the contexts of altering food attitudes and of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion.