Vested interest is a communication theory that seeks to explain how influences impact behaviors. As defined by William Crano, vested interest refers to the amount that an attitude object is deemed hedonically relevant by the attitude holder (Crano, 1995). In Crano's idea of vested interest, if the attitude object is subjectively important and the perceived personal consequences are significant, there will be a greater chance the individual's attitude will be expressed behaviorally. For example, a 30 year old individual is told that the legal driving age is being raised from 16 to 17 in his state. While he may not agree with this law, he is not impacted like a 15 year old prospective vehicle operator and is unlikely to be involved in protesting the change. This example illustrates the point that highly vested attitudes concerning issues are related to an individual’s situational point of view.
Read more about Vested Interest: Components of Vested Interest, Summary
Famous quotes related to vested interest:
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain ‘above the fray’ only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)
“Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill-health.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)