People in Groups Week 4: Attitudes and Persuasion

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the concepts of attitudes, cognitive dissonance, dual-process persuasion models, source/message factors, resistance mechanisms, and social compliance techniques from Week 4.

Attitude (houding)

A positive or negative evaluation of a person, object, topic, or situation.

Strong attitude (sterke attitude)

An attitude that is important to someone, difficult to change, and strongly predictive of behavior.

Attitude-behavior relationship (attitude-gedragrelatie)

The principle that attitudes predict behavior better when they are strong, based on direct experience, and easily retrieved from memory.

Role-playing

Adopting a role or perspective that can result in a change in one's own attitude.

Saying is believing

The psychological effect where publicly stating a message leads someone to believe in it more strongly themselves.

Self-perception theory (Bem)

The theory proposing that people infer their own attitudes by observing their own behavior.

Cognitive dissonance (cognitieve dissonantie)

An unpleasant internal tension that occurs when behaviors, thoughts, or beliefs are in conflict with one another.

Selective exposure hypothesis

The tendency to avoid information that contradicts existing beliefs.

Insufficient justification

Adjusting one's attitude because there is inadequate external justification for behavior that contradicts one's conviction.

Effort justification

Evaluating something more positively because one has invested significant effort, time, or money into it.

Decision justification (beslissingsrechtvaardiging)

Emphasizing the advantages of a chosen alternative after making a decision while evaluating rejected alternatives as less attractive.

Post-decisional conflict

Doubt or psychological tension that arises after making a decision.

Induced compliance

A situation where someone voluntarily engages in behavior that conflicts with their own attitude, potentially generating cognitive dissonance.

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)

A classic experiment where participants who received $1$ dollar to describe a boring task as enjoyable later evaluated the task more positively than participants who received $20$ dollars.

Persuasion (overtuiging)

The process by which an individual attempts to change the attitude or opinion of another person.

Dual-process model of persuasion

A theoretical framework stating that persuasion can proceed via two distinct routes: the central route and the peripheral route.

Central route (centrale route)

Carefully processing a persuasive message by thinking critically about the content and the arguments presented.

Peripheral route (perifere route)

Processing a message superficially by relying on peripheral cues such as attractiveness, emotions, or popularity.

Elaboration

The extent to which an individual thinks deeply and critically about the arguments within a message.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

Petty and Cacioppo's model explaining the conditions under which people process information via the central or peripheral route.

Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM)

Chaiken's persuasion model that distinguishes between systematic processing and heuristic processing.

Systematic processing (systematische verwerking)

Carefully analyzing information and critically evaluating arguments.

Heuristic processing (heuristische verwerking)

Evaluating information using quick mental rules of thumb rather than engaging in deep deliberation.

Representativeness heuristic (representativiteitsheuristiek)

Judging someone or something based on its degree of resemblance to a typical mental prototype or example.

Yale approach

A framework proposing that the success of persuasion depends on characteristics of the source, the message, and the audience.

Credibility (geloofwaardigheid)

The degree to which a communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy.

Likability

The extent to which a communicator is perceived as likable or sympathetic.

Source attractiveness (aantrekkelijkheid van de bron)

The persuasive advantage possessed by an appealing communicator, particularly when recipients rely on the peripheral route.

Sleeper effect

The delayed increase in persuasiveness of a message from a low-credibility source occurring because the source is forgotten over time.

High involvement

A state in which a topic is personally important, leading an individual to devote greater attention and scrutiny to the arguments.

Low involvement

A state in which a topic has little personal importance, making an individual more likely to rely on superficial cues.

Primacy effect

The cognitive tendency for the first information received to exert the strongest influence on final judgment.

Recency effect

The cognitive tendency for the most recently received information to exert the strongest influence on final judgment.

Message length (lengte van een boodschap)

In persuasion, argument quality is critical under the central route, whereas the sheer quantity of arguments can be persuasive under the peripheral route.

Message discrepancy

The degree to which a message diverges from a recipient's prior opinion; an excessive divergence can trigger resistance.

Perceived manipulation

The feeling that an individual is attempting manipulation, resulting in diminished persuasiveness.

Positive emotions in persuasion (positieve emoties bij overtuiging)

A positive emotional state that causes individuals to think less critically and lean more toward using the peripheral route.

Fear appeals (angstboodschappen)

Messages that evoke fear to motivate behavior change, functioning most effectively when coupled with a clear, actionable solution.

Subliminal messages

Stimuli presented below the threshold of conscious awareness that can exert minor effects under specific conditions.

Familiarity (bekendheid)

The quality by which a known message is accepted more readily because it feels familiar.

Need for cognition

An individual's predisposition and desire to engage in effortful, deep, and careful cognitive processing.

Self-monitoring

The degree to which an individual regulates and adapts their behavior according to how they appear to others.

Regulatory fit

The enhanced persuasiveness that occurs when a message aligns with an individual's personal motivation and goals.

Promotion-focused motivation (promotiegerichte motivatie)

A motivational orientation focused on growth, opportunities, success, and the attainment of positive outcomes.

Prevention-focused motivation (preventiegerichte motivatie)

A motivational orientation focused on safety, responsibility, and the avoidance of negative outcomes.

Forewarning (voorwaarschuwing)

Advance notice that a persuasion attempt is about to occur, enabling recipients to generate resistance.

Cognitive resistance to persuasion (cognitieve weerstand tegen overtuiging)

Resistance that develops because a person preemptively formulates counterarguments against an anticipated persuasive attempt.

Motivational resistance to persuasion (motivationele weerstand tegen overtuiging)

Resistance motivated by a desire to safeguard one's freedom of choice against external influence.

Inoculation (inenting)

Building persuasion resistance by learning to refute mild or weakened counterarguments in advance.

Reactance (psychologische weerstand)

The psychological pushback that occurs when an individual senses a threat to their freedom of choice.

Self-esteem (zelfwaardering)

An individual's evaluation of their self-worth, which can affect the manner in which persuasive appeals are processed.

Audience characteristics in persuasion (publiekskenmerken bij overtuiging)

Personal traits such as need for cognition, self-monitoring, and self-esteem that affect how persuasive messages are received.

Cultural differences in persuasion (culturele verschillen in overtuiging)

Variations in influence whereby individualistic cultures respond more strongly to individual benefits, while collectivist cultures respond more strongly to group-oriented appeals.

Compliance (inschikkelijkheid)

Modifying behavior in response to a direct request without necessarily altering one's internal convictions.

Intimidation (intimidatie)

Influencing others through fear, explicit threats, or the highlighting of negative consequences.

Exemplification (voorbeeldgedrag)

Presenting oneself as moral, trustworthy, or exemplary to influence others.

Supplication (hulpeloosheid tonen)

Portraying oneself as helpless or needy in order to elicit pity and assistance from others.

Self-promotion (zelfpromotie)

Highlighting one's own competence or expertise to persuade others.

Ingratiation (in de gunst komen)

Making oneself likable through behaviors such as friendliness or flattery to increase influence.

Reciprocity principle (wederkerigheidsprincipe)

The psychological obligation people feel to return a favor when someone has provided something to them.

Consistency principle (consistentieprincipe)

The tendency for people to desire that their behavior aligns with their previous decisions and commitments.

Foot-in-the-door technique (foot-in-the-door-techniek)

A technique where gaining agreement to a small initial request increases compliance with a subsequent larger request to preserve consistency.

Door-in-the-face technique (door-in-the-face-techniek)

A technique where making an initial large request that is rejected is followed by a smaller request that seems more reasonable by comparison.

Low-ball technique (low-ball-techniek)

A technique where agreement is secured on an attractive offer first, after which the terms are worsened, while the target typically remains committed to the decision.