A cognitive-decision mediation model as a predictor of opinion expression

The responses of 1,443 individuals to a questionnaire were used to test a cognitive-decision mediation model that predicts the expression of an opinion. Fear of Social Isolation and opinion congruence predicted a media surveillance motive that was mediated by attention, interpersonal discussions, and elaboration. In turn, perceived familiarity with an issue was mediated mainly by attention, opinion perspective diversity by discussions, and structural knowledge by elaboration. Also, information instrumentality (the perceived usefulness of information) mediated perceived familiarity and opinion perspective diversity, whereas presenting counter-arguments was mediated by structural knowledge. Finally, information instrumentality was the strongest predictor of opinion expression, followed by counter-arguing and cognitive rehearsal.