This is a handy term to know and understand.
It may help you someday avoid an embarrassing situation where you don't fully understand it and you come across as uneducated.
The term is: Vested Interest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vested_interest
Vested interest is a communication theory that seeks to explain how influences impact behaviors. Coined by William Crano, vested interest refers to the amount that an attitude object is deemed hedonically relevant by the attitude holder (Crano, 1995). Not to be confused with the pre-existing legal term vested interest, which is related to the concept of vesting. In other words, if an attitude object is deemed to have important perceived personal consequences, then that object is of high vested interest. 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, it does not affect him as much as the 15 year old prospective vehicle operator. This example illustrates the point that highly vested attitudes concerning issues are related to an individual’s point of view of the situation.
Hope that helps someone someday.
Smoge
