Pergamon Journal of School Psychology,Vol. 35. No. 2, pp. 1(17-136, 1997 Copyright © 1997 Society for the Studv of School Psychology Printed in the USA 0022-4405/97 $17.(1(I + .0(t PII S0022-4405(97)00003-4 The Elaboration Likelihood Model: Implications for the Practice of School Psychology Richard £ Petty Ohio State University Martin Heesacker University of Florida Jan N. Hughes Texas A & M University Understanding the formation and change of attitudes is important to the practice of school psychology. We review a contemporary theory of attitude change, the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion (ELM, Petty & Cacioppo, 1981, 1986), and address its relevance to school psychology. The ELM provides an integralive Ii'amework tot understanding the antecedents and consequences of attitude change and specifies the various processes by which source, message, recipient, channel, and context variables have an impact on attitudes. A key postulate in the ELM is that attitude change can result ti-om relatively thoughtful (central route) or nonthoughfful (peripheral route) processes. The ELM also holds that the more thoughtful the change, the more likely the new attitude is to persist, resist coun- terpersuasion, and influence behavior. Illustrations of the utility of the ELM ior school psychology are presented along with some caveats and research suggestions. © 1997 Society for the Suldy of School Psychology INTRODUCTION Recently, a number of school psychologists have noted the importance of attitudes to the practice of school psychology. For example, Cafferty (1992) noted that: Schools, like all complex organizations, are attitude arenas .... (The) public, parents, teachers, students, administration, and staff- develop and maintain attitudes toward each other and toward policies and prac- tices relevant to school fimctioning. (p. 25) Received February 21, 1994; accepted June 22, 1995. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Richard E. Petty, Department of Psychol- ogy, Ohio State University, 1885 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1222. E-mail address: petty,. 1 @osu.edu 107