High self-esteem is associated with low need for ego defense, greater capacity for focusing one’s attention, and lower levels of anxiety – all of which conduce toward a higher probability of reception of persuasive communication. As regards the expected negative relationship between self-esteem and acceptance of the communications which one has received, one could argue that people possessing little self-esteem tend to yield uncritically to whatever communications they happen to encounter.
William McGuire
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