Notes Set 6/Ch. 7 Persuasion

This set of flashcards covers the key concepts related to persuasion in social psychology.

Persuasion

The process of intentionally trying to change another person's attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors through spoken/written communication.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A model of persuasion maintaining that there are two different routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route.

Central Route

Occurs when people think carefully & deliberately about the content of a persuasive message, attending to its logic, strength, related evidence, and principles.

Peripheral Route

Primarily attending to peripheral aspects of a message like superficial, easy-to-process features tangential to the persuasive information itself (e.g., length, expertise/attractiveness of the source).

Message Quality

High-quality messages are more persuasive, especially for those strong in motivation and ability. Attitude change is greater when conclusions are explicit.

Vividness

Information that is colorful, interesting, and memorable tends to be more effective.

Identifiable Victim Effect

The tendency to be more moved by the vivid plight of a single individual than by a more abstract number of people.

Fear Messages

Fear messages combined with instructions on how to avoid negative outcomes can be very persuasive.

Need for Cognition

The degree to which people like to think deeply about judgments; those high in this need are more persuaded by central route messages.

Selective Attention

People are inclined to attend selectively to information that confirms their original attitudes.

Selective Evaluation

We tend to evaluate information in biased ways to support our preexisting opinion.

Thought Polarization Hypothesis

More extended thought about a particular issue tends to produce a more extreme, entrenched attitude.

Attitude Inoculation

Small attacks on people’s beliefs that engage their preexisting attitudes, prior commitments, and background knowledge, enabling them to counteract a subsequent larger attack and thus resist persuasion.

Message Characteristics

Aspects, or content, of a persuasive message, including the quality of the evidence and the explicitness of its conclusions

Audience Characteristics

Characteristics of those who receive a persuasive message, including need for cognition, mood, age.

Source Characteristics

Characteristics of the person who delivers a persuasive message, such as attractiveness, credibility, and certainty.

Engagement depends on ___

motivation and ability

Attractiveness

attractive spokespeople are more persuasive, effects are through peripheral route

Credibility

people who are seen as knowledgeable and trustworthy are more persuasive

Certainty

sources who express their views with certainty and confidence tend to be more persuasive

Culture

Important to tailor a message to fit the norms, values, and outlook of a particular cultural group

Mood

Messages are more persuasive when they match the mood of the receiver

Age

Younger people are more persuadable than older people

Resistance to persuasion

Perceptual biases, previous commitments, prior knowledge

Selective framing

We tend to selectively frame issues in a manner that shines a more positive light on positions we support and a more negative light on positions we oppose.

Previous commitments

Attitudes tied to our social identity are more resistant to change

Knowledge

Attitudes based on knowledge are more resistant to change

Moralization of attitudes

Attitudes backed by moral conviction are particularly resistant to persuasion