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Social judgment theory (SJT) is a self-persuasion theory proposed by Carolyn Sherif, Muzafer Sherif, and Carl Hovland,[1] defined by Sherif and Sherif as the perception and evaluation of an idea by comparing it with current attitudes. SJT is understanding different attitudes and the factors that influence those attitudes. When a person is being persuaded their point of view on the subject will determine how they will react. Understanding attitudes includes being aware of what a person will accept or reject about a given subject.

The concept of involvement is the crux of SJT. In short, Sherif et al. (1965) speculated that individuals who are highly involved in an issue are more likely to evaluate all possible positions, therefore resulting in an extremely limited or nonexistent latitude of non commitment. When a person being persuaded has high ego-evolvement, the more a person cares about a subject, there will be a larger Latitude of Rejection. The larger the Latitude of Rejection means a person is less likely to change their opinion on the subject. High involvement also means that individuals will have a more restricted latitude of acceptance. According to SJT, messages falling within the latitude of rejection are unlikely to successfully persuade. Therefore, highly involved individuals will be harder to persuade, according to SJT.