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Social judgment theory (SJT; Sherif & Hovland 1961 ; Sherif et al. 1965 ) is based on the premise that the effect of a persuasive message on a particular issue depends on the way that the receiver evaluates the position that the message puts forth ( O'Keefe 1990 ; →  Persuasion ). Sherif et al. (1965) claimed that an individual's attitude toward a particular issue or behavior is not adequately reflected by a single alternative or position among those available. Research in the SJT tradition determines the limits of the position of the receiver “relative to the bounds of possible alternatives defined by the extreme positions on the issue” ( Sherif et al. 1965 , 3) in terms of the →  latitudes of acceptance , noncommitment, and rejection. In SJT, each receiver judges the range of alternatives individually, and then these judgments can be combined “to reflect the consensus, defined by social norms, prevailing among given people” ( Sherif et al. 1965 , 10). Thus, SJT allows for delineating group patterns that emerge from perceptions of individuals (→  Social Norms ). Additionally, SJT claims that the members of the population in question are affected by these patterns, in that they “develop and adopt a variety of practices, customs, traditions, and definitions that mark off latitudes for acceptable attitudes and behavior and for objectionable attitudes and behavior among members ... log in or subscribe to read full text