Title:	Associate Professor of Psychology, Ph.D.
	E-mail:	jedward@luc.edu

 

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Personal Information

Ph.D., The Ohio State University (1970)

Research Interests:
My "basic" research interest is attitudes: how they are formed, their components and ways to measure them, and the factors that influence both persuasion and resistance to attitude change. Current studies deal with the relationship between knowledge about a topic (e.g., AIDS) and attitudes toward it. A surprising general finding is that knowledge is not highly or consistently related to attitudes. Future studies will attempt to discover whether different types of knowledge are related to different components of attitudes. Another area of basic research examines an attitude component I have called "propriety," or the sense of what is right, moral and proper. Current studies are testing how this attitude component relates to other variables. I'm also interested in studying the connection between attitudes and other dispositions such as values and personality traits to understand why attitudes are often so extreme and resistant to change. My "applied" research interests are in applying social psychological perspectives to educational issues. The emphasis is on integrating various theories to provide a conceptual framework for evaluating the operations and outcomes of educational programs. This complements my basic research by testing the impact of educational interventions on knowledge and attitudes.

Publishing, Publications and Presentations:
Edwards, J., & Milenkovic, M. (1999). Sense of propriety as a component of attitudes expressed in newspaper editorials. Presented at the 11th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society, Denver.

Tindale, R. S., Posavac, E. J., Edwards, J., Heath, L., Bryant, F., Myers, J., Suarez-Balcazar, Y., & Henderson-King, E. (Eds.). (1998). Theory and research on small groups. New York: Plenum.

Edwards, J., Lusnar, M., & Milenkovic, M. (1998). Validating four components and two evaluative aspects of attitudes. Presented at the 70th Annual Convention of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Wiley, K., Edwards, J., Smillie, P., Heath, L., & Acklin, M. (1996). HIV/AIDS nursing care: Instrument for measuring students' attitudes and precautions. Journal of Nursing Education, 35, 230-233.