By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Define attitude
- Describe how people’s attitudes are internally changed through cognitive dissonance
- Explain how people’s attitudes are externally changed through persuasion
- Describe the peripheral and central routes to persuasion
Social psychologists have documented how the power of the situation can influence our behaviours. Now we turn to how the power of the situation can influence our attitudes and beliefs.Attitudeis our evaluation of a person, an idea, or an object. We have attitudes for many things ranging from products that we might pick up in the supermarket to people around the world to political policies. Typically, attitudes are favourable or unfavourable: positive or negative (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). And, they have three components: an affective component (feelings), a behavioural component (the effect of the attitude on behaviour), and a cognitive component (belief and knowledge) (Rosenberg & Hovland, 1960).
For example, you may hold a positive attitude toward recycling. This attitude should result in positive feelings toward recycling (such as “It makes me feel good to recycle” or “I enjoy knowing that I make a small difference in reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills”). Certainly, this attitude should be reflected in our behaviour: You actually recycle as often as you can. Finally, this attitude will be reflected in favourable thoughts (for example, “Recycling is good for the environment” or “Recycling is the responsible thing to do”).
Our attitudes and beliefs are not only influenced by external forces, but also by internal influences that we control. Like our behaviour, our attitudes and thoughts are not always changed by situational pressures, but they can be consciously changed by our own free will. In this section we discuss the conditions under which we would want to change our own attitudes and beliefs.
What is Cognitive Dissonance?
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behaviour (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behaviour, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our self-esteem or positive self-image. Psychologist Leon Festinger (1957) definedcognitive dissonanceas psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviours, or cognitions (thoughts, beliefs, or opinions). Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance states that when we experience a conflict in our behaviours, attitudes, or beliefs that runs counter to our positive self-perceptions, we experience psychological discomfort (dissonance). For example, if you believe smoking is bad for your health but you continue to smoke, you experience conflict between your belief and behaviour (Figure SP.10).
Later research documented that only conflicting cognitions that threaten individuals’ positive self-image cause dissonance (Greenwald & Ronis, 1978). Additional research found that dissonance is not only psychologically uncomfortable but also can cause physiological arousal (Croyle & Cooper, 1983) and activate regions of the brain important in emotions and cognitive functioning (van Veen, Krug, Schooler, & Carter, 2009). When we experience cognitive dissonance, we are motivated to decrease it because it is psychologically, physically, and mentally uncomfortable. We can reducecognitive dissonanceby bringing our cognitions, attitudes, and behaviours in line—that is, making them harmonious. This can be done in different ways, such as:
- changing our discrepant behaviour (e.g., stop smoking),
- changing our cognitions through rationalization or denial (e.g., telling ourselves that health risks can be reduced by smoking filtered cigarettes),
- adding a new cognition (e.g., “Smoking suppresses my appetite so I don’t become overweight, which is good for my health.”).
A classic example of cognitive dissonance is Elian, a 20-year-old who enlists in the military. During boot camp is awakened at 5:00 a.m., is chronically sleep deprived, yelled at, covered in sand flea bites, physically bruised and battered, and mentally exhausted (Figure SP.11). It gets worse. Recruits that make it to week 11 of boot camp have to do 54 hours of continuous training.
Not surprisingly, Elian is miserable. No one likes to be miserable. In this type of situation, people can change their beliefs, their attitudes, or their behaviours. The last option, a change of behaviours, is not available to Elian. He has signed on to the military for four years, and cannot legally leave.
If Elian keeps thinking about how miserable they are, it is going to be a very long four years. Elian will be in a constant state of cognitive dissonance. As an alternative to this misery, Elian can change their beliefs or attitudes. Elian can tell themselves, “I am becoming stronger, healthier, and sharper. I am learning discipline and how to defend myself and my country. What I am doing is really important.” If this is their belief, Elian will realize that they are becoming stronger through their challenges. Then they will feel better and not experience cognitive dissonance, which is an uncomfortable state.
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The Effect of Initiation
The military example demonstrates the observation that a difficultinitiationinto a group influences us to like the group more. Another social psychology concept,justification of effort, suggests that we value goals and achievements that we put a lot of effort into. According to this theory, if something is difficult for us to achieve, we believe it is more worthwhile. For example, if you move to an apartment and spend hours assembling a dresser you bought from Ikea, you will value that more than a fancier dresser your parents bought you. We do not want to have wasted time and effort to join a group that we eventually leave. A classic experiment by Aronson and Mills (1959) demonstrated this justification of effort effect. College students volunteered to join a campus group that would meet regularly to discuss the psychology of sex. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no initiation, an easy initiation, and a difficult initiation into the group. After participating in the first discussion, which was deliberately made very boring, participants rated how much they liked the group. Participants who underwent a difficult initiation process to join the group rated the group more favourably than did participants with an easy initiation or no initiation (Figure SP.12).
Similar effects can be seen in a more recent study of how student effort affects course evaluations. Heckert, Latier, Ringwald-Burton, and Drazen (2006) surveyed 463 undergraduates enrolled in courses at a midwestern university about the amount of effort that their courses required of them. In addition, the students were also asked to evaluate various aspects of the course. Given what you’ve just read, it will come as no surprise that those courses that were associated with the highest level of effort were evaluated as being more valuable than those that did not. Furthermore, students indicated that they learned more in courses that required more effort, regardless of the grades that they received in those courses (Heckert et al., 2006).
Besides the classic military example and group initiation, can you think of other examples ofcognitive dissonance? Here is one: Addison and Adrian live in Fairfield County, Connecticut, which is one of the wealthiest areas in the United States and has a very high cost of living. Addison telecommutes from home and Adrian does not work outside of the home. They rent a very small house for more than $3000 a month. Adrian shops at consignment stores for clothes and economizes when possible. They complain that they never have any money and that they cannot buy anything new. When asked why they do not move to a less expensive location, since Addison telecommutes, they respond that Fairfield County is beautiful, they love the beaches, and they feel comfortable there. How does the theory of cognitive dissonance apply to Addison and Adrian’s choices?
In the previous section we discussed that the motivation to reduce cognitive dissonance leads us to change our attitudes, behaviours, and/or cognitions to make them consonant.Persuasionis the process of changing our attitude toward something based on some kind of communication. Much of the persuasion we experience comes from outside forces. How do people convince others to change their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours (Figure SP.13)? What communications do you receive that attempt to persuade you to change your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours?
A subfield of social psychology studies persuasion and social influence, providing us with a plethora of information on how humans can be persuaded by others.
Yale Attitude Change Approach
The topic of persuasion has been one of the most extensively researched areas in social psychology (Fiske et al., 2010). During the Second World War, CarlHovlandextensively researched persuasion for the U.S. Army. After the war, Hovland continued his exploration of persuasion at Yale University. Out of this work came a model called theYale attitude change approach, which describes the conditions under which people tend to change their attitudes. Hovland demonstrated that certain features of the source of a persuasive message, the content of the message, and the characteristics of the audience will influence the persuasiveness of a message (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953).
Features of the source of the persuasive message include the credibility of the speaker (Hovland & Weiss, 1951) and the physical attractiveness of the speaker (Eagly & Chaiken, 1975; Petty, Wegener, & Fabrigar, 1997). Thus, speakers who are credible, or have expertise on the topic, and who are deemed as trustworthy are more persuasive than less credible speakers. Similarly, more attractive speakers are more persuasive than less attractive speakers. The use of famous actors and athletes to advertise products on television and in print relies on this principle. The immediate and long term impact of the persuasion also depends, however, on the credibility of the messenger (Kumkale & Albarracín, 2004).
Features of the message itself that affect persuasion include subtlety (the quality of being important, but not obvious) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986; Walster & Festinger, 1962); sidedness (that is, having more than one side) (Crowley & Hoyer, 1994; Igou & Bless, 2003; Lumsdaine & Janis, 1953); timing (Haugtvedt & Wegener, 1994; Miller & Campbell, 1959), and whether both sides are presented. Messages that are more subtle are more persuasive than direct messages. Arguments that occur first, such as in a debate, are more influential if messages are given back-to-back. However, if there is a delay after the first message, and before the audience needs to make a decision, the last message presented will tend to be more persuasive (Miller & Campbell, 1959).
Features of the audience that affect persuasion are attention (Albarracín & Wyer, 2001; Festinger & Maccoby, 1964), intelligence, self-esteem (Rhodes & Wood, 1992), and age (Krosnick & Alwin, 1989). In order to be persuaded, audience members must be paying attention. People with lower intelligence are more easily persuaded than people with higher intelligence; whereas people with moderate self-esteem are more easily persuaded than people with higher or lower self-esteem (Rhodes & Wood, 1992). Finally, younger adults aged 18–25 are more persuadable than older adults.
Elaboration Likelihood Model
An especially popular model that describes the dynamics of persuasion is the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Theelaboration likelihood modelconsiders the variables of the attitude change approach—that is, features of the source of the persuasive message, contents of the message, and characteristics of the audience are used to determine when attitude change will occur. According to the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, there are two main routes that play a role in delivering a persuasive message: central and peripheral (Figure SP.14).
Thecentral routeis logic driven and uses data and facts to convince people of an argument’s worthiness. For example, a car company seeking to persuade you to purchase their model will emphasize the car’s safety features and fuel economy. This is a direct route to persuasion that focuses on the quality of the information. In order for the central route of persuasion to be effective in changing attitudes, thoughts, and behaviours, the argument must be strong and, if successful, will result in lasting attitude change.
The central route to persuasion works best when the target of persuasion, or the audience, is analytical and willing to engage in processing of the information. From an advertiser’s perspective, what products would be best sold using the central route to persuasion? What audience would most likely be influenced to buy the product? One example is buying a computer. It is likely, for example, that small business owners might be especially influenced by the focus on the computer’s quality and features such as processing speed and memory capacity.
Theperipheral routeis an indirect route that uses peripheral cues to associate positivity with the message (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Instead of focusing on the facts and a product’s quality, the peripheral route relies on association with positive characteristics such as positive emotions and celebrity endorsement. For example, having a popular athlete advertise athletic shoes is a common method used to encourage young adults to purchase the shoes. This route to attitude change does not require much effort or information processing. This method of persuasion may promote positivity toward the message or product, but it typically results in less permanent attitude or behaviour change. The audience does not need to be analytical or motivated to process the message. In fact, a peripheral route to persuasion may not even be noticed by the audience, for example in the strategy of product placement. Product placement refers to putting a product with a clear brand name or brand identity in a TV show or movie to promote the product (Gupta & Lord, 1998). For example, one season of the reality seriesAmerican Idolprominently showed the panel of judges drinking out of cups that displayed the Coca-Cola logo. What other products would be best sold using the peripheral route to persuasion? Another example is clothing: A retailer may focus on celebrities that are wearing the same style of clothing.
Researchers have tested many persuasion strategies that are effective in selling products and changing people’s attitude, ideas, and behaviours. One effective strategy is the foot-in-the-door technique (Cialdini, 2001; Pliner, Hart, Kohl, & Saari, 1974). Using thefoot-in-the-door technique, the persuader gets a person to agree to bestow a small favour or to buy a small item, only to later request a larger favour or purchase of a bigger item. The foot-in-the-door technique was demonstrated in a study by Freedman and Fraser (1966) in which participants who agreed to post small sign in their yard or sign a petition were more likely to agree to put a large sign in their yard than people who declined the first request (Figure SP.15). Research on this technique also illustrates the principle of consistency (Cialdini, 2001): Our past behaviour often directs our future behaviour, and we have a desire to maintain consistency once we have a committed to a behaviour.
A common application of foot-in-the-door is when teens ask their parents for a small permission (for example, extending curfew by a half hour) and then asking them for something larger. Having granted the smaller request increases the likelihood that parents will acquiesce with the later, larger request.
How would a store owner use the foot-in-the-door technique to sell you an expensive product? For example, say that you are buying the latest model smartphone, and the salesperson suggests you purchase the best data plan. You agree to this. The salesperson then suggests a bigger purchase—the three-year extended warranty. After agreeing to the smaller request, you are more likely to also agree to the larger request. You may have encountered this if you have bought a car. When salespeople realize that a buyer intends to purchase a certain model, they might try to get the customer to pay for many or most available options on the car. Another example of the foot-in-the-door technique would be applied to an individual in the market for a used car who decides to buy a fully loaded new car. Why? Because the salesperson convinced the buyer that they need a car that has all of the safety features that were not available in the used car.
attitude: evaluations of or feelings toward a person, idea, or object that are typically positive or negative. central route persuasion: logic-driven arguments using data and facts to convince people of an argument's worthiness.What is the Yale approach to persuasion psychology? ›
In social psychology, the Yale attitude change approach (also known as the Yale attitude change model) is the study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages.What is persuasion in psychology introduction? ›
What does persuasion mean? Persuasion is used to describe a process where a person, brand, or other factors influence another person's behavior or attitudes. Bear in mind that persuasion doesn't happen under duress; it's more a form of negotiating or influencing.What is Carl Hovland's persuasion theory? ›
Hovland also developed social judgment theory of attitude change. Carl Hovland thought that the ability of someone to resist persuasion by a certain group depended on your degree of belonging to the group.What are the 4 basic elements of persuasion psychology? ›
The ingredients of persuasion: 1) the communicator 2) the message 3) how the message is communicated 4) the audience.What are the three types of attitude in psychology? ›
Attitudes can include up to three components: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral.What are the 6 keys of persuasion? ›
What are Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion? Cialdini's 6 Principles of Influence are reciprocity, commitment or consistency, consensus or social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity.What are the three elements of persuasion psychology? ›
Three Elements of Persuasion - Ethos, Pathos, logos
The secret lies in following the advice of Aristotle, breaking down the essential elements of persuasion into three parts: (1) logos or logic, (2) ethos or ethic, and (3) pathos or emotion.
The most prominent theories of this type are the elaboration-likelihood model and the heuristic-systematic model.What are the 3 types of persuasion? ›
You will often hear ethos, pathos, and logos referred to as the three modes of persuasion.
The ultimate goal of the persuasive process is for individuals (or a group) to carry out the behaviour implied by the new attitudinal position; for example, a person enlists in the army or becomes a Buddhist monk or begins to eat a certain brand of cereal for breakfast.What is a real life example of persuasion? ›
Persuasion is a powerful force in daily life and has a major influence on society and a whole. Negative examples of persuasion often come to mind—as in an ad trying to get you to buy something you don't need, peer pressure that causes you to make a poor decision, or even deliberate misinformation.What are the 4 models of persuasion? ›
- Carl Hoveland's Model of Persuasion. Carl Hoveland was a psychologist who studied attitude changes and persuasion. ...
- Two-Sided Messages Model of Persuasion. ...
- The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. ...
- Blaise Pascal's Method for Persuasion.
The three forces are motivation (i.e., the need for information about brand-based benefits), the ability or expertise to grasp the arguments and the opportunity to process benefit-based claims.What are the two pathways of persuasion? ›
There are two primary routes to persuasion. The central route to persuasion uses facts and information to persuade potential consumers. The peripheral route uses positive association with cues such as beauty, fame, and positive emotions.What are the 5 stages of persuasion? ›
Monroe's Motivated Sequence of Persuasion Steps
The steps are: Attention, Need, Satisfaction, Visualization and Action.
Persuasion is part of the communications process. The five basic elements of persuasion--source, message, medium, public and effect.What are the 5 fundamental principles of persuasion? ›
A persuasive message can succeed through the principles of reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment and consistency, consensus, and liking.What are 5 positive attitudes? ›
- Changing your perspective. Your perspective has a powerful influence on your life and happiness. ...
- Smiling and being kind to others. ...
- Practicing self-compassion. ...
- Not taking things personally. ...
- Being happy for others' success.
Rather, there are three theories that are used most often to describe attitude formation: functionalism, learning, and cognitive dissonance theories.
- Nominal Scale. This is a very simple scale. ...
- Ordinal Scale. Ordinal scales are the simplest attitude measuring scale used in Marketing Research. ...
- Interval Scale. ...
- Ratio Scale.
What are the 7 principles of persuasion? The 7 basic principles of persuasion were devised by Dr. Robert Cialdini and include: scarcity, authority, social proof, sympathy, reciprocity, consistency and later unity was added.What is the basic rule of persuasion? ›
Persuasion is the power to influence someone to take action after the person has already decided not to. The six principles of persuasion are - reciprocity, commitment/consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity.What are the theories of persuasion? ›
What are the persuasive theories? Persuasive theories attempt to explain the ways people's beliefs can be changed. They include the rational model, cognitive dissonance theory, social judgment theory, elaboration likelihood model, narrative paradigm, theory of reasoned action, and inoculation theory.What is the rule of three in persuasion? ›
Simply put, the Rule of Three is a very general principle that states that ideas presented in threes are inherently more interesting, more enjoyable, and more memorable for your audience. Information presented in a group of three sticks in our head better than other groups.What are Aristotle's three main means of persuasion? ›
Aristotle determined that persuasion comprises a combination of three appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Anyone seeking to persuade an audience should craft his/her message with facts (logos), tapping an argument's emotional aspect (pathos), and presenting his/her apparent moral standing (ethos).Which method of persuasion is the most effective? ›
Which persuasion technique is the most effective? Some psychology studies suggest that the most effective persuasion technique is “reciprocity,” which involves giving something to the person you want to persuade in order to create a feeling of obligation.How do you convince someone psychologically? ›
- Use ultimate terms.
- Talk quickly.
- Use the right body language.
- Present balanced arguments.
- Tell a story instead of reporting data.
- Take power away from the powerful.
- Establish credibility. ...
- Know your audience. ...
- Listen to other viewpoints and provide compliments. ...
- Identify other people's motivations. ...
- Customize your message. ...
- Back up your reasoning.
Traditionally, persuasion involves ethos (credibility), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion). By performing these three elements competently, a speaker can enhance their persuasive power.
The three components of persuasive speaking are credibility, logic, and emotion.What emotion is persuasion? ›
What is emotional persuasion? Emotional persuasion is developing an awareness of your audience's emotional state and evoking those emotions (or new ones) to get them to take the actions you want. Emotional persuasion is all about leveraging someone's feelings to influence their thinking and behavior.How does persuasion affect human behavior? ›
The affective feelings of the recipients of a persuasive message influence attitudes directly, but can ultimately change beliefs as well. The psychology of persuasion has often been concerned with the impact of feelings such as a happy or sad mood.What are the factors that affect persuasion psychology? ›
The success of persuasion depends on three factors: source, message and target. Comment. Topic: Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behavior; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.What is a simple example of persuasion? ›
A simple example of persuasion is inspiring a potential client to sign up for an email list. Convincing employees to do a difficult task or asking supervisors to invest in the necessary job equipment are persuasive management situations you may have not even been aware of by now.Why is persuasion important in personal life? ›
Strong persuasion skills can help you better perform your job. If you work in a sales role, you may be called upon to persuade clients to purchase a certain product or service. Additionally, persuasion can be used to encourage and motivate your team members, supporting the overall success of the company.Why is persuasion important? ›
Persuasion is the process of convincing someone else to carry out an action or agree with an idea. In the workplace, persuasion is used to sell products, recruit team members and increase productivity. An employee with strong persuasion skills can influence others to perform well and succeed.What is it called when you try to convince yourself? ›
Self-persuasion - Wikipedia.What are three ways to resist persuasion? ›
Four clusters of resistance strategies are defined (avoidance, contesting, biased processing, and empowerment), and these clusters are related to different motivations for resisting persuasion (threat to freedom, reluctance to change, and concerns of deception).What are the three questions of persuasion? ›
Persuasive propositions respond to one of three types of questions: questions of fact, questions of value, and questions of policy. These questions can help the speaker determine what forms of argument and reasoning are necessary to support a specific purpose statement.
Here are just a few cognitive dissonance examples that you may notice in your own: You want to be healthy, but you don't exercise regularly or eat a nutritious diet. You feel guilty as a result. You know that smoking (or drinking too much) is harmful to your health, but you do it anyway.What is Fae in psychology? ›
What Is the Fundamental Attribution Error? The fundamental attribution error refers to an individual's tendency to attribute another's actions to their character or personality, while attributing their behavior to external situational factors outside of their control.What hormone is typically implicated in aggressive behavior? ›
Cortisol is a steroid and the body's main stress hormone, released from the adrenal cortex. One of the first studies described a model in which the HPA axis was linked to aggression (47) and later, cortisol and aggression were seen in wrestlers who after fighting showed an increased level in serum cortisol (48).What is the relationship between attitude and persuasion? ›
The affective feelings of the recipients of a persuasive message influence attitudes directly, but can ultimately change beliefs as well. The psychology of persuasion has often been concerned with the impact of feelings such as a happy or sad mood.What are attitudes in psychology? ›
From a social psychological perspective, “attitudes” refer to summary evaluations of people, groups, ideas, and other objects, reflecting what individuals like and what they dislike. An attitude object can be any stimulus that is evaluated along a dimension of favorability.What is an example of attitude persuasion? ›
For example, you may hold a positive attitude toward recycling. This attitude should result in positive feelings toward recycling (such as “It makes me feel good to recycle” or “I enjoy knowing that I make a small difference in reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills”).What are the main factors that influence persuasion and attitude change? ›
- Reciprocity. People feel an obligation to give when they receive. ...
- Liking. People say yes to people they like, and we tend to like similar, complementary, and cooperative people. ...
- Scarcity. ...
- Authority. ...
- Consistency. ...
persuasion, the process by which a person's attitudes or behaviour are, without duress, influenced by communications from other people. One's attitudes and behaviour are also affected by other factors (for example, verbal threats, physical coercion, one's physiological states).What are the 4 components of attitude? ›
The main components of attitude are cognitive, affective, and behavioral, which means they incorporate thoughts, feelings, and actions.What are the 5 attitudes? ›
“The Five Hazardous Attitudes” are the source of most on-the-job incidents during elevated construction. These attitudes, Anti-Authority, Impulsivity, Invulnerability, Macho, & Resignation, often lead to poor judgment and risk assessment.
- Logos — Appealing to Logic.
- Pathos — Appealing to Emotions.
- Ethos — Appealing to Ethics, Morals and Character.
Another meaning for persuasion is the act of influencing someone to do something or to change their mind. For example, good salespeople use persuasion to get people to buy things, just as children use persuasion to get permission to do certain things.What attitudes are most vulnerable to persuasion? ›
People are sometimes more susceptible to persuasion when they are distracted by some extraneous event than when they are paying full attention to what is being said (hecklers). Individuals relatively low in self-esteem are often easier to persuade than those who are high in self-esteem (audience's self-esteem).What are the two types of persuasion in psychology? ›
These two “routes to persuasion” are 1) the “central” route and 2) the “peripheral” route. An individual who is using the “central” route will be more engaged in processing and evaluating the merit of the opposing parties proposal.What are some examples of persuasion in everyday life? ›
A friend tries to persuade another friend to go out in a text message. An employer tries to persuade a prospective employee that a salary offer is the best they are going to get. A public speaker tries to convince an audience that a social issue is important and urgent.