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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
10:13
Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Aging and susceptibility to attitude change.
1Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|September 1, 1989
Summary
Political attitudes are most susceptible to change during young adulthood, according to the impressionable years hypothesis. Later life resistance to attitude change is not due to increased stability, but measurement error.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Political Science
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Understanding how age influences attitude change is crucial for developmental and political science.
- Two competing hypotheses exist: the impressionable years hypothesis and the increasing persistence hypothesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the impressionable years hypothesis against the increasing persistence hypothesis regarding age and attitude change.
- To analyze the stability of political attitudes across the lifespan.
Main Methods:
- Utilized structural equation models to analyze longitudinal data from National Election Panel Studies (1956-1980).
- Estimated political attitude stability and measurement unreliability over time.
Main Results:
- Findings support the impressionable years hypothesis, indicating peak susceptibility to attitude change in young adulthood.
- The increasing persistence hypothesis was disconfirmed.
- Reduced consistency in older adults (66-83) stemmed from measurement error, not increased resistance to change.
Conclusions:
- Political attitudes are most malleable during late adolescence and early adulthood.
- Older adults' attitude reports may appear less consistent due to measurement issues, not genuine shifts in opinion.
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