My "basic" research interest is attitudes: how they are formed, their components, functions, structures, properties and ways to measure them, and the factors that influence both persuasion and resistance to attitude change. Current studies deal with the relationship between attitudes and other constructs including knowledge, values, self-concepts, personality traits, and general ideologies, especially religiosity and secular humanism. These relationships are examined within the General Attitude Bonding Model applied to understand why people believe as they do. Another area of basic research examines an attitude dimension I have called "propriety," the prescriptive/proscriptive beliefs about proper behavior in relation to moral judgments. Another topic involves visual imagery of an attitude object as an additional form of mental representation along with the traditional cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Other current studies are exploring brain hemisphere interaction in relation to attitude properties and resistance to change. The attitude objects we study always consist of targets of prejudice (e.g., ethnic groups, atheists) and controversial social issues (e.g., abortion, death penalty).

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 attitudes and related constructs such as knowledge and values. One example is an evaluation of how experiential learning in a field setting can transform a student's attitudes and actions through a process of cognitive/affective reflection.

Primary Interests:

Applied Social Psychology
Attitudes and Beliefs
Ethics and Morality
Person Perception
Persuasion, Social Influence
Prejudice and Stereotyping

Applied Social Psychology
Attitudes and Beliefs
Ethics and Morality

Person Perception
Persuasion, Social Influence
Prejudice and Stereotyping

Books:

Edwards, J., Tindale, R.S., Heath, L., & Posavac, E.J. (1990). Social influence processes and prevention. New York: Plenum.
Heath, L., Tindale, R.S., Edwards, J.,Posavac, E.J., Bryant, F.B., Henderson-King, E., Suarez-Balcazar, Y. & Myers, J. (Eds.), (1994). Applications of cognitive heuristics and biases to social issues. New York: Plenum.
Ottati, V., Tindale, R. S., Edwards, J., Bryant, F., Heath, L., O'Connell, D. C., Suarez-Balcazar, Y., & Posavac, E. J. (Eds.). (2002). The social psychology of politics. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
Tindale, R. S., Posavac, E. J., Edwards, J. D., Heath, L., Bryant, F., Myers, J., Suarez-Balcazar, Y., & Henderson-King, E. (Eds.). (1998). Applications of theory and research on small groups to social issues. New York: Plenum.

Journal Articles:

Fiedorowicz, L., & Edwards, J. (2009). Predictors of sexual prejudice: Religious beliefs, political ideology, gender, and contact. VDM Verlag. ISBN 978-3-639-15757-4.

Other Publications:

Edwards, J. (1990). Frameworks for applying social psychological processes to social issues. In J. Edwards, R.S. Tindale, L. Heath, & E.J. Posavac (Eds.) Social influence processes and prevention. New York: Plenum.
Edwards, J., & Abraham, N. (2010). Bonding of attitudes about atheists to religious and secular ideologies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas, NV.
Edwards, J., Alarian, H., Harrison, P., & Abraham, N. (2010). Brain bi-laterality, relgiosity, and outgroup prejudice. Presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.
Edwards, J., & Cole, S. (2005). Actual similarities and perceived differences in importance of values among supporters and opponents of abortion. Presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Convention, Chicago.
Edwards, J.D. & Harrison, P.R. (2011). In the mind's eye: The visual image component of attitudes. Presented at the 83rd Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Edwards, J., Fiedorowicz, L., Gnedko, N., & O'Connor, J. (2006, May). Secular humanism and value relevance as elements of abortion ideologies. Presented at the Association for Psychological Science Convention, New York.
Edwards, J., Fiedorowicz, L., & Suzuki, H. (2008). Prescriptive beliefs, sense of propriety, and feelings about social issues. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Edwards, J., Fiedorowicz, L., & Suzuki, H. (2006, May). Actual versus perceived differences between opponents and supporters of abortion: Effects on ratings of value relevance. Presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Convention, Chicago.
Edwards, J., Fiedorowicz, L., Suzuki, H., & Sandberg, L. (2008). Psychological force field of inter-attitude structures. Presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science. Chicago, IL.
Edwards, J., Krumdick, N., & LaForce, M. (2002). A content portrait of persuasive communications: Cognitive, affective, behavioral, and propriety components. Presented at the American Psychological Society Convention, New Orleans.
Edwards, J., & Price, K. (2003, June). The varied cognitive, affective, behavioral and propriety components of attitudes toward ten types of people. Presented at the American Psychological Society Convention, Atlanta.
Edwards, J. & Sandberg, L. (2007). Opinion extremity as a function of bonding social issues to self-concepts. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Anaheim, CA.
Fiedorowicz, L., & Edwards, J. (2010). Religious beliefs as predictors of explicit and implicit attitudes toward African-Americans and homosexuals. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas, NV.
Fiedorowicz, L., & Edwards, J. (2006, June). What divides people on the issue of homosexuality? Presented at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Convention, Long Beach.
Ottati, V., Edwards, J., & Krumdick, N. (2005). Attitude theory and research: Intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary connections. In D. Albarracin, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

John D. Edwards
Department of Psychology
Loyola University Chicago
1032 West Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660
United States

Phone: (773) 508-3025
Fax: (773) 508-8713