SOCI 323 Social Psychology 1 Attitude Change (Persuasion) Session - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education

2014/2015 – 2016/2017

SOCI 323 Social Psychology

Session 1 1 – Attitude Change (Persuasion)

Lecturer: Dr . Peace Mamle T etteh, Department of Sociology Contact Information: ptetteh@ug.edu.gh

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Session Overview

Social Psychology

Our attitudes have been seen to help us make meaning of and survive in

• ur

world. But this world and the human environment are constantly changing around us. Change has become constant. Thus being able to keep up with the changing times has survival value. This session on attitude change considers how you can persuade another person to change his or her attitude towards something, someone, or a situation. In addition, we shall examine the strategies individuals adopt to resist persuasive messages targeted at them. At the end of the session, the student will be able to:

• define and explain the concept of Persuasion
• identify the various factors that influence persuasion and
• identify ways through which people resist persuasion.

Session Outline

Social Psychology

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Definition of Persuasion
• The Process of Persuasion
• T

echniques of Persuasion

• Resisting Persuasion
• Sample Question
• Session Summary
• References

Reading List

Social Psychology

• Read chapter five of the required text and the articles

posted on Sakai on session 11

T

• pic One

DEFINING PERSUASION

Social Psychology

What is Persuasion?

• The process of changing attitudes through the presentation
• f various types of information.
• ͚A

process

• f

consciously attempting to change attitudes through the transmission of some message (Franzio, 2000).

• Efforts to change others attitude through the use of various

kinds

• f

messages (Baron et al, 2006; Baron and Branscombe, 2012)

Social Psychology

T

• pic Two

THE PERSUASION PROCESS

Social Psychology

The Persuasion Process

Social Psychology

• Attitude

change is assumed to follow a series

• f

stages namely, paying attention to the message, comprehending the message, and accepting the message. Each stage is dependent on the preceding stage.

• The basic question that helped identify the key elements that

determine persuasion was ͚who says what to whom and with what effect?͛ Thus the focus is on four (4) factors that influence persuasion namely;

• The Communicator (Source of the information)
• The Message (Content of the information)
• The Medium (Channel through which the information comes)
• The Audience (Target/Recipient of the information)

Characterisitcs of the Communicator

Social Psychology

• In relation to source, attention is paid to credibility or believability.

Credibility is based on two factors namely:

• expertise (the amount of knowledge that a communicator is

assumed to possess) and

• trustworthiness (the perceived intention of the

communicator to deceive).

• Research

indicates that highly credible sources are more persuasive immediately after the message is presented. However, over time the credibility factor seems to weaken and less credible sources tend to gain credibility.

• The delayed effect that a low credible source has on attitude

change is called the sleeper effect (the delayed effectiveness of a persuasive message from a non credible source).

Characteristics of the Communicator

Social Psychology

• Attractiveness:

It has been suggested (Stanton et al, 1996) that an attractive communicator can be more persuasive than an unattractive one. Attractiveness could be based on physical appearance, likeability and similarity to the audience.

• Similarity: We are attracted to those who are similar to us. A

communicator can be similar to his audience in a number of ways that include:

• sharing attitudes or values (does s/he think like me/ are his

morals like mine?)

• having similar backgrounds as his audience (race, hometown

etc), appearance (does s/he look like me/ dress like me).

The Message

Social Psychology

• The basic question here is ͚what makes a message persuasive

in its own right regardless or independent of its source?

• Numerous researchers have indicated that the characteristics
• f an effective message include several factors some of which

are:

• Using facts and/or vivid images
• Using fear and/or Humor
• Using one-sided arguments and/or two-sided arguments
• The order in which the arguments are presented
• The number of times the message is repeated

The Medium/Channel of Communication

Social Psychology

• Speed of Speech: Research suggests that fast talkers are

generally more persuasive than those who speak slowly. This is because they are seen as, or create the impression that they are credible and know what they are talking about.

• Again, rapid speech makes it difficult for the listener to

adequately process the content of the message and so they just accept it as compared to if they had time to analyze and scrutinize the message.

• In other words, when you talk fast you win a person
• ver before he has time to digest what you said and

assess its worth

Style of Speech

Social Psychology

• Powerful speech is more persuasive than powerless speech. Powerless

speech according to socio-linguistics includes the following language forms:

• Hesitation Forms: ͚uh͛,

͚you kŶow͛- which indicate a lack of confidence or certainty.

• Disclaimers: ͚you may not believe this but͛, ͚aŵ not an expert but͛- asking

the listener to be patient or refrain from criticism.

• Qualifiers: ͚sort of͛, ͚kiŶd of͛, ͚I guess͛- serve to tone down or blunt the force of an

assertive statement.

• Tag Questions: ͚I did well, doŶ͛t you thiŶk͛, ͚that͛s the right thing to do͛ isŶ͛t it?͛- a plea

for agreement.

• Thus, two messages with the same content can be presented but which one leads

to persuasion and attitude change is influenced greatly by the power with which it is presented. Powerful speech adds an assertive punch to ones message.

Characteristics of the Audience

Social Psychology

• Certain characteristics of the audience are crucial in

determining whether a message will be received leading to attitude change or not. These characteristics include:

• The intelligence of the audience
• The audience need for social approval
• The audience self esteem
• The audience size
• The audience mood
• The age of the audience

Sample Question

Social Psychology

• Discuss the relevance of the use of fear in

persuasive communication.

T

• pic Three

TECHNIQUES OF PERSUASION

Social Psychology

Persuasion Techniques

• Foot-in-the-Door

technique, you T echnique: With this make a small reasonable

• request. After your target agrees to that

request however, you follow up with a larger request.

• The low-ball technique : is similar to the foot-

in-the-door. First you are

• ffered

a very reasonable deal. When you accept it, the deal is changed- for the worse- but you have come too far to resist.

Social Psychology

T

• pic Four

RESISTING PERSUASION

Social Psychology

Resisting Persuasion: Forewarning

Social Psychology

• This is the advance knowledge that you have that someone is about to persuade

you or that you are about to become the target of persuasion.

• Forewarning provides you with several cognitive processes that help you to resist
• persuasion. For example, forewarning provides you with the opportunity to gather

counter arguments; those that refute the content

• f

the persuasive

• message. Forewarning provides you with the time to gather all the data needed to

counter argue the persuasive message.

• There

are instances though in which forewarning can lead to positive attitude change; but this effect is often a temporary response to people͛s desire to maintain their images as independent people and not gullible or easily influenced ones.

• Thus, forewarning gives people the opportunity to alter their views (on their own)

prior to hearing the persuasive message. This way, they made the decision and were not forced to do so. This often happens when people know that the persuader is an expert and they will appear foolish if they doŶ͛t agree with him.

Resisting Persuasion: Selective Avoidance

Social Psychology

• This

is the tendency to direct your attention away from information that challenges your existing attitudes and behavior.

• Television watching provides a clear illustration of selective avoidance.

When you sit before a television, you simply do not absorb all that is thrown at us. You often change channels, mute, record and skip sections or simply tune your minds off when whatever is in T.V is counter to the views or behavior you hold.

• When it supports what you believe, you give it your full attention. This

practice of selective avoidance is what helps you to ensure that your attitudes remain largely intact for a long time.

Resisting Persuasion: Reactance

Social Psychology

• This refers to the negative reactions to threats to oŶe͛s

personal freedom. Thus, the kind

• f

negative behavior you put up when you think that someone is trying to unduly influence you.

• In such instances, you do the opposite (negative attitude

change), Even if you would normally have agreed you resist because

• f

the pressure. The experience

• f reactance

is

• ne

reason why hard- sell attempts at persuasion often fail.

• If individuals perceive these persuasive attempts as

image as motivated to change their independent persons, they tend to fight it.

Summary of Session

Social Psychology

• This

session is the first part

• f
• ur

discussions

• f

attitude change. It looked at how we can persuade others to change their attitudes towards some phenomenon.

• Attitude

change is a complex process which involves paying attention to the content of a message, the channel through which a message comes, the characteristics

• f

the communicator as well as the audience.

• Though we, in reality are always being bombarded with

messages aimed at changing our attitudes, it is important to be able to resist some of these persuasive messages using the strategies of reactance, forewarning and selective avoidance

References

• Robert, B. and Branscombe, N. (2012). Social Psychology.

13th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.

• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. & Akert, R. (2007) Social

Psychology. 6th Edition. Pearson Education Inc.

• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. & Akert, R. (2010) Social

Psychology. 7th Edition. Pearson Education Inc.

Social Psychology