Elaboration, Persuasion, Cognitive Dissonance | Social Psych

Elaboration

How much a person carefully thinks about and evaluates a persuasive message.

Favorable elaboration

Thinking positively about a message's arguments, making persuasion more likely.

Unfavorable elaboration

Thinking negatively about a message's arguments, making persuasion less likely.

Petty, Cacioppo, & Goldman (1981)

Found that people who were highly motivated to think about a message were more influenced by the quality of its arguments.

Source Credibility

How trustworthy and knowledgeable a message's source appears.

Hovland & Weiss (1951)

Demonstrated the sleeper effect, where information from a less credible source can become more persuasive over time.

Selective Exposure

Choosing information that supports existing beliefs while avoiding opposing information.

Edwards & Smith (1996)

Found that people spend more time processing and generating counterarguments against opinions they strongly oppose.

Fear in Messages

Persuasive messages that use fear to encourage people to change their attitudes or behavior.

Subliminal Messaging

Presenting information below the level of conscious awareness.

Wegner et al. (1995)

Studied how positive affect influences persuasion and people's responses to persuasive messages.

Need for Cognition

A person's tendency to enjoy and engage in effortful thinking.

Need for Cognition & Persuasion

People high in need for cognition are more persuaded by strong arguments than superficial cues.

Self-Monitoring

How much people adjust their behavior to fit social situations.

Self-Monitoring & Persuasion

High self-monitors are more influenced by image and social appeal; low self-monitors focus more on personal beliefs.

Janis (1968)

Found that actively participating in presenting or explaining a message can increase persuasion and attitude change.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Psychological discomfort caused by conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.

Ways to Reduce Dissonance

Change behavior, change beliefs, or justify the inconsistency.

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)

People paid less to lie about a boring task changed their attitudes more than those paid more.

Aronson & Mills (1959)

People who went through a difficult initiation valued the group more than those with an easy initiation.

Justification of Effort

Valuing something more because you worked hard to obtain it.

Reasons We Join Groups

Belonging, social support, identity, protection, and achieving shared goals.

Explicit Group

A clearly defined group with recognized membership and boundaries.

Implicit Group

A group people identify with or feel connected to without formal membership.