Abstract:

Metacognition refers to individuals’ subjective judgments about one’s own attitude (e.g., importance, certainty). It is an important dimension of attitude strength and plays a key role in persuasion. This study first introduced the major components of metacognition. Then it focused on recent models that explain metacognitive processes in persuasion: Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), Associative- propositional Evaluation model (APE) and Meta-cognitive Model (MCM). Furthermore, factors that influence the metacognitive processes were discussed: source (source credibility), recipient (emotion and bodily responses), message (message matching), and context. We suggested that further studies should focus on clarifying the dimensions and consequences of metacognitive attitude properties, identifying the psychological and neural mechanisms of metacognitive process in persuasion, and expanding the application in other areas.

Key words: attitude, metacognition, attitude strength, persuasion, application