paraphrase the assignment

Exam 5

Name: Ashlyn Sehgal Date: 19th December, 2017.

Follow the directions in each section and answer the questions as comprehensively as possible. Make sure to provide correct citations for the terms and definitions used from the textbook. A high level of analysis should guide your answers, which should be typed underneath each question.

I. Compulsory questions: You must answer all the questions in this section:

1. What are the three types of beliefs? Briefly explain each and offer an example. (6 points)

There are three different types of beliefs according to Rokeach. These are descriptive, prescriptive, and evaluative.

Descriptive Belief

This kind of belief are objective assertions that can be proven or disproven.

Example: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. This is a given fact that can be scientifically proven. Hence, these facts are more or less believed by everyone in the world.

Prescriptive Belief

This kind of belief are objective assertions of goodness versus badness or correctness versus incorrectness. They cannot be proven or disproven.

Example: My mother believes that it is imperative for children to listen to their parents. This is an example of prescriptive belief as my mother believes this is the right thing to do and it is an accepted belief in most parts of the world; however, it cannot be scientifically proven.

Evaluative Belief

This kind of belief are subjective assertions of affect or judgement (liking versus disliking). They cannot be proven or disproven.

Example: ‘I believe that Starbucks produces the best coffee in the world.’ This is an evaluative belief as it is limited to my opinion and my belief system. This may not hold true for another individual as it cannot be proven scientifically and this kind of belief is subject to the beliefs of the individual.

The different beliefs an individual hold about something or someone, forms his/her opinion about that thing or person and eventually, the individual’s attitude towards that thing or person is formed.

2. Three elements are necessary for the construction of a rational argument. What are they and offer an example of your use of each in making an argument for or against a public issue. (6 points)

A rational argument is an argument that has a persuasive appeal containing three elements that make the argument more meaningful.

· Claim – a claim states an individual’s position on the issue they have chosen to write or speak about.

· Data – data is the evidence which is used to support the claim made; a claim that can be backed up by facts is merely an assertion.

· Warrant – the warrant interprets the data that is collected and shows how it supports the claim made by the individual.

For Example:

‘Media creates unrealistic beauty standards for women and they should be cautious of not letting these standards affect their lifestyle (claim). An article published in New York Times stated that around 82% of women believe that social media has the power to modify and reform the prevailing beauty standards in the society. (data) Hence, women should be self-confident enough to not get swayed by these standards and let it degrade their style of living by giving into eating or psychological disorders. (warrant)’

3. What is the TARES Test? Explain what each letter of this acronym means. (10 points)

Persuasion brings out a very important ethical concerns that is the attempt of an individual to change another person’s values, beliefs, attitudes or behaviors. The two ethics behind persuasion are- First, the individual who is being persuaded should be aware of it. Second, coercion or the use of force to convince someone is considered highly unethical.

Ethical persuasion can be defined as a “communication activity that unites people while it permits maximum individual choice” (Anderson, 1978, p.3). Sherry Baker and David Martinson are two communication ethicists that integrated their ideas of personal freedom and human dignity to formulate TARES Test. TARES is an acronym for the five principles that are imperative to imperative persuasion. These are as follows: -

T – Truthfulness of the content displayed

A – Authenticity of the individual trying to persuade the other individuals.

R – Respect and reverence for the persuader

E – Equity of the persuasive appeal and how equally it opens to its audience.

S – Social Responsibility for the common good.

4. Balance Theory and Dissonance Theory share some common understandings about humans and how they deal with persuasion. Describe both theories and comment on what they have in common using examples. (13 points)

Balance Theory

Fritz Heider was a psychologist who formulated the theory of balance. This theory suggests that people want to be cognitively balanced- they want the things and people in their lives to be in coordination with each other. Another synonym for this theory is P-O-X since it involves attitudes and behaviors in situations that constitute of three things-

· P – the person

· O – another person

· X – the attitude object

This relationship between these elements can either be balanced or imbalanced and obviously, imbalance is looked upon unfavorably. Since, striking a balance is the ideal situation everyone strives to achieve, we are inspired to change the we perceive, behave and form opinions about the world only in order to strike that balance.

For instance, John is a regular consumer of alcohol and enjoys either a mug of beer or a glass of whiskey every evening. However, his close friend Jeanette does not consume alcohol and does not have a positive approach towards it. This relationship is misbalanced as John and Jeanette have a positive attitude towards each other and John has a positive attitude towards alcohol. However, Jeanette has a negative attitude towards consumption of alcohol which is results in an imbalance. Now, Jeanette could either change her attitude towards alcohol consumption and become a less stringent in her mindset or perhaps, even start consuming it or, she should change her attitude towards John by dissociating with him in order to strike a balance.

Dissonance Theory

Leon Festinger is a psychologist who believed that people look for ‘cognitive consistency’ which is the tendency to maintain, or to return to, a state where a balance between the different attitudes can be reached. The theory of dissonance supports the idea that information that is inconsistent with a person’s already held attitudes and beliefs, it would create a psychological discomfort or dissonance that must be comforted. This relief can be brought to the individuals through selective process of exposure, retention and perception.

For instance, this example illustrates the theory of dissonance by describing how ‘low paying bad jobs create dissonance and low paying fun jobs create no dissonance’. If someone paid me half a million dollars to eat worms, I would voluntarily tell people about how bad it tasted in order to make the reward seem like it’s worth. However, if I was paid $50 to eat the same worms, I would probably tell everyone that it didn’t taste as bad. The theory of dissonance comes into play in this example as it explores attitudinal change depending on the situation of the individual.

The similarities between the two theories, balance and dissonance is that they both seek to attain a certain kind of balance. If there is no balance, forces will come together to either change the sentiments involved or the relation of the units will be modified through action or cognitive regrouping. In case, the change doesn’t arise, a state of incongruence will occur which will lead to an imbalance or dissonance.

II. Choose and answer one question from the following two in this section:

5. What are values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors? Explain how they are connected. Take a single issue (the textbook uses smoking) and show how it relates to your own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. (15 points)

Values are an individual’s deeply held judgement about the worth or importance of various aspects of people’s lives.

Attitudes is a relatively enduring institution of beliefs surrounding an object or situation predisposing one to respond in a preferential manner.

A belief is a proposition about something that is real or true. Beliefs can be of three types – descriptive, prescriptive and evaluative.

Behavior is a concrete and observable action.

Connection between values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors:

· Values are essential to people’s sense of being and that is why, they help shape an individual’s belief and attitude.

· Attitudes are stable clusters of beliefs that come together to form our opinion on someone or something.

· Attitudes are also being predisposition to respond, they often times lead an individual to behave in a certain way. Hence, attitudes have a significant impact on the behavior of the individual.

· Most of the times, attitude-produced responses are not noticeable.

· Despite having a connection between, attitude and behavior, they both are not in synchronization.

· Behaviors also have the ability to alter attitudes.

· With the change in behavior, it becomes relatively easy to adjust attitudes, beliefs and perhaps, even values of an individual.

For Example:

The set of values imparted to me by the practice of my religion, Hinduism forbids me to consume alcohol. I uphold my values and I maintain my distance from drinking. However, ever since my arrival into college, I have noticed that consuming alcohol is growing trend in today’s generation and everyone around me does it, frequently. Hence, my belief that alcohol consumption is bad not only for our physical state but also, for our mental state. However, this belief altered to alcohol should be consumed responsibly and in moderation to be able to enjoy oneself. This change in belief arose from a change in my behavior pattern as I was surrounded by people who were actual consumers of alcohol and enjoyed drinking it. This change in my environment modified my attitude towards the idea of drinking. This raised my endurance to withstand alcohol and be more accepting of people who consume it without altering by personal values by giving into the act of drinking.

6. What characteristics of the source of a persuasive attempt, the nature of that attempt itself, and of the target of the persuasive effort will influence the likely success of that persuasive effort? List all the characteristics and provide an example of each where applicable. (15 points)

Work Cited

Beauchamp, S. R., & Baran, S. J. (2017). Introduction to human communication: Perception, meaning, and identity. New York: Oxford University Press.