The following paper seeks to explore some of the main theories surrounding persuasion. Shane parrish of farnam street reads a lot of booksup to 14 each monthso it means something when he picks robert cialdinis influence. Theory and research, third edition is a comprehensive overview of socialscientific theory and research on persuasion. Persuasion is presented in this volume on a micro to macro continuum, moving from chapters on cognitive processes, the individual, and theories of persuasion, to chapters highlighting broader social factors and phenomena related to persuasion, such as social context and. Mar 16, 2019 social cognition is a subtopic of social psychology that focuses on how people process, store, and apply information about other people and social situations. Explain the three theories of persuasion discussed in the text. At their core, cognitive approaches ask a simple question. If you are starting to investigate the field and look for some essential books, i would recommend taking a look at these 3 books.
The cognitive approach to persuasion while the communication approach focuses on the who, whom, and what of persuasion, more recent cognitive approaches focus on the role that thinking and information processing play in persuasion. Explaining theories of persuasion s ince the mid1930s when dale carnegie first published his bestselling book how to win friends and influence people, the notion of how to persuade others has been both a popular and profitable subject. Some of the limitations of the cognitive emphasis of most contemporary theories of persuasion consider several viewpoints that emphasize motivation as cognition. Persuasion is a fundamental form of social influence on human decision making. May 10, 2020 persuasion is symbolic, utilizing words, images, sounds, etc. Second, dissonance theory has generated literally hundreds of studies. List of books and articles about cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance communication oxford bibliographies. Advances in experimental social psychology, 17c, 267359. Learning theories persuasion is really just a version of learning the desired response to persuasive efforts often using conditioning and comprehension and incentives a. Here is just a segment of the book s table of contents, filled with ideas on kindness, generosity, and partnership. Okeefe includes a discussion of research on the production of persuasive messages as well as more traditional research on the study of message effects. Cognitive dissonance is central to many forms of persuasion to change beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors.
Cognitive theories of persuasion northwestern scholars. Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance has been one of the most in. We do not behave merely by reflex, taxis, instinct, and conditioned response. Written in a clear and accessible style that assumes no special technical background in research methods, the third edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect developments in persuasion studies. Social psychologist joel cooper captures all of this beautifully in cognitive dissonance. The chapters include critical views of cognitive dissonance and explorations of the moderators of cognitive dissonance, including commitment, time of decision, and individual differences. Discuss the purpose of stimulation and cognitive dissonance when using persuasion. As a voracious reader of brainy books on influence and persuasion not limited to. Sage business cases real world cases at your fingertips. Cognitive rational theories involves channeling thoughts a. Festinger and his team went on in later studies to focus on the specific psychological process by which this cognitive adjustment had taken place. Pdf the article outlines a series of persuasion theories in social psychology. How to use 10 psychological theories to persuade people.
Sage books the ultimate social sciences digital library. Outline how persuasion is determined by the choice of effective communicators and. From wellcrafted public relations campaigns designed to foster positive attitudes about a company to telling a story to convince a customer that a salesperson is honest, the theories presented. The new edition contains more coverage of the theory of reasoned action, a new chapter on. Cognitive dissonance theory is an aversive motivational state that occurs when an individual entertains two or more contradictory attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors simultaneously.
If cognitive theories of panic disorder are correct, how can you treat panic disorder. The concept of persuasion has been developed between the 1940s and 1950s after studies aimed at defining the optimal persuasive effectiveness of propaganda, being it political or an advertising campaign. A little more than 60 years ago, leon festinger published a theory of cognitive dissonance 1957. Social cognitive theory posits that learning most likely occurs if there is a close identification between the observer and the model and if the observer also has a good deal of selfefficacy. It involves a deliberate attempt to influence others. More recently, dual process theories of attitude change point to two different paths. The cognitive response model shows that learning our cognitive responses to persuasion provides a basis for understanding the persisting effects of communication. In 1957, leon festinger proposed another theory for understanding how persuasion functions. A cognitive dissonance theory perspective on persuasion.
Leon festinger defines cognitive dissonance theory as an impetus toward attaining a cognitive consistency and certainty. Books and publications policy papers and briefs diplonews. Motives in persuasion also have been investigated in research on attitude functions and cognitive dissonance theory. The cognitive response model of persuasion locates the most direct cause of persuasion in the selftalk of the persuasion target, rather than the content of the message. The two routes to persuasion persuasion depends on receiver motivation to thinkcare, that is, personal relevance of the issue and ability to think about the persuasive topic. Cognitive response rational theories mental processing.
To this point, we have focused on techniques designed to change attitudes. This approach differs from personality theories that emphasize either the conditions within which personality develops e. The tension can be injected suddenly or allowed to build up over time. For example, maybe you know you should be working on your speech, but you really want to go to a movie with a friend. Theories of persuasion persuasion in your life taylor. Aristotelian theory, ranks model, and the narrative paradigm. Communication and attitudes in the 21st century, richard perloff noted that the study of persuasion today is extremely important for five basic reasons the sheer number of persuasive communications has grown exponentially. Changing attitudes through persuasion principles of social. The rational model the rational model of persuasion is based on the idea that people behave in predictable ways based on. People are exposed to hundreds of persuasive messages per day in one form or another. The book also examines attempts to resolve dissonance, such as selective exposure.
The theory of cognitive dissonance was developed in 1957 by leon festinger 1919 to 1989, an american psychologist, and has at its core the principle that people strive to maintain consistency among pairs of cognitions or knowledges about their own opinions and. Sage video bringing teaching, learning and research to life. Explaining theories of persuasion sage publications. Concurrently, with the rise of mass media and the pervasiveness. Theories do not have rules that have to be followed, but they may contain principles, or guidelines, to refer to and compare phenomena to. In a lot of ways, a discussion on persuasion and influence could begin and end with carnegies book. The 21 laws of persuasion the book persuasive techniques explains all the 21 laws of persuasion and how they can be applied to everyday life, especially in business. Persuasion is presented in this volume on a micro to macro continuum, moving from chapters on cognitive processes, the individual, and theories of persuasion, to chapters highlighting broader social factors and phenomena related to persuasion, such as social context and larger scale persuasive campaigns.
Attitudes, behavior, and persuasion principles of social. The way we think about others plays a major role in how we think, feel, and interact with the world. Methods of transmitting persuasive messages can occur in a variety of ways, including verbally and nonverbally via television, radio, internet or. Although portrayed as theories of persuasion, each of these viewpoints can be applied to a wide variety of communication contexts. The big list of academic theories, postulates, hypotheses, etc. Social cognitive theory, the cognitive formulation of social learning theory that has been best articulated by bandura 24, 25, explains human behavior in terms of a threeway, dynamic, reciprocal model in which personal.
Cognitive dissonance theory is a very wideranging theory. Cognitive dissonance is described as psychological discomfort that arises from holding incompatible ideas at the same time. Sage reference persuasion and social influence theories. Persuasion can attempt to influence a persons beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors in business, persuasion is a process aimed at changing a persons or a groups attitude or behaviour toward some event, idea, object, or other persons, by using written, spoken words or visual tools to convey information, feelings, or. We will discuss two theoriesselfperception theory and cognitive dissonance theoryeach of which makes this prediction but for different reasons. It has generated hundreds and hundreds of studies, from which much has been learned. Cognitive dissonance theory paper 75 words bartleby. The successful persuasion tactic is one that directs and channels thoughts so that the target thinks in a manner agreeable to the communicators point of view. It focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in our social interactions. Sage reference the complete guide for your research journey. Social cognitive theory an overview sciencedirect topics. Cognitive theories of personality focus on the processes of information encoding and retrieval, and the role of expectations, motives, goals, and beliefs in the development of stable personality characteristics. The three that will be discussed are cognitive dissonance, the elaboration likelihood model and the psychological motivational theory with special attention to abraham maslows hierarchy of needs. Application of persuasion and health behavior theories for.
The sage handbook of persuasion sage publications inc. Cognitive dissonance leon festinger defines cognitive dissonance theory as an impetus toward attaining a cognitive consistency and certainty. When you start feeling uncomfortable, stop and see if you can find the inner conflict. Cognitive dissonance implies a state in which two cognitions or thoughts. An introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an. Selfefficacy is the extent to which an individual believes that they can master a particular skill. Communication and attitudes in the 21st century, richard perloff noted that the study of persuasion today is extremely important for five basic reasons. The persuasion handbook provides readers with cogent, comprehensive.
Anthony greenwald first proposed the theory in 1968. Furthermore, to accomplish these goals, persuaders must consider the cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Cognitive dissonance changing minds and persuasion. Persuasion is presented in this volume on a micro to macro continuum, moving from chapters on cognitive processes, the individual, and theories of persuasion to chapters highlighting broader social factors and phenomena related to persuasion, such as social context and. This comprehensive text provides a thorough and critical treatment of persuasion theory and research from a social science perspective. Written in plain english, with a conversational tone that anyone can understand, persuasive techniques builds on the work of social psychologists such as. The section that follows explains three early theories of persuasion. Predictably irrational, revised and expanded edition. Social cognitive theory sct is one of the most frequently applied theories of health behavior baranowski et al. Cq press your definitive resource for politics, policy and people. In this lesson, youll look at theories of persuasion and how they work. Greenwalds theory states that we remember our cognitive responses better than actual information presented.
The cognitive perspective on social interaction begins with the assumption actually, more like an axiom that humans are intelligent creatures. Miller defined persuasive communication as any message that is intended to shape, reinforce or change the responses of others miller, 1980. Written in a clear and accessible style that assumes no special technical background in research methods, the third edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect developments in persuasion. The last of the three theories of persuasion discussed here is the elaboration likelihood model created by petty and cacioppo. The sensation of discomfort in turn will induce the individual to remove the inconsistency causing him or her discomfort, and seek to balance the cognitions until a harmonious state is reached. The cognitive response model of persuasion locates the most direct cause of persuasion in the selftalk of the persuasion target, rather than the content of the message anthony greenwald first proposed the theory in 1968. There follows a consideration of three contemporary persuasion theories, each of which treats persuasion as a product of a distinctive cognitive process. People can be moved in many small jumps or one large one. The early theories provide a foundation for the study of persuasion. Persuasion theory is a mass communication theory that deals with messages aimed at subtly changing the attitudes of receivers. Cognitive dissonance theory applications 2122 words. Although it is not always supported for example, curiosity might interfere with the selective exposure effect, there is no question that this theory has strong research support.
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