4-1 Discussion: Psychology of Persuasion

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Reading and Resources13.html

Required Resources

Article: The Power of Persuasion  Robert Cialdini is one of the leading authors of research on persuasion and attitude change. This article gives you an overview of his ideas and supports assignment 4-2. 

Additional Support (Optional)

Article:  Reciprocal concessions procedure for inducing compliance: The door-in-the-face technique Article: Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique  These classic articles provide information on the techniques mentioned in assignment 4-1. 

Module Overview3.html

Persuasion

We all have attitudes and beliefs about numerous objects and of course, people. For example, how do you feel about the war following 9/11? Do you have an opinion on the current president, or that celebrity who always seems to be in the news? The question that this module seeks to answer is: Where did those attitudes come from? And did we get these attitudes from our parents, our friends, or the media—or are they in our DNA?

What Are Attitudes?

An attitude is simply an evaluation of an object, person, or place (Kassin, 2021). An evaluation can be positive, negative, or neutral. An evaluation could have been formed five minutes ago, or you might have had a particular attitude since you were a young child.

One might ask: Why do we care so much about studying attitudes? From a social psychological viewpoint, the answer is simple: We want to have a deep understanding of where our attitudes come from, so that we can develop marketing techniques to appeal to people’s attitudes or to change them.

One of the most interesting facts about attitudes is that many of our attitudes are currently hidden to us. These attitudes are called implicit (Kassin, 2021). Implicit attitudes can be brought to our conscious awareness (made explicit) by reminding us of how we feel. This is called priming (Kassin, 2021). If advertisers can bring our hidden attitudes into our awareness, the advertisers are now more likely to be able to sell us their products.

For example, suppose that you were born into a very traditional home with old-fashioned values. Through the years, however, society has pushed you to act in a more progressive manner and to be more open-minded. Deep down, however, you still hold those traditional values. Now, if a marketing company were to make a TV commercial that focused on traditional values, you would pay more attention to that commercial and be more motivated to buy the product because the commercial touched your deeply rooted beliefs and attitudes.

Attitude Change

The main reason that social psychologists study attitudes is so they can learn how to change them. How does one change a person’s attitudes? This is done through a variety of methods that all may be called persuasion. One of the most prominent researchers in this field is Robert Cialdini, author of the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Cialdini uses simple techniques such as giving a compliment, using reciprocation, or even using authority to persuade people to change their attitudes or behaviors (Cialdini & Griskevicius, 2019). When do norms within society affect behavior, and when do norms do not affect behavior (Kallgren et al., 2000)? Researchers found that behavior conformed to the dictates of a relevant norm (e.g., the norm against speeding) only when the norm is in focus in society. The factors that result in action included the degree to which the action violated the relevant norm, and the degree to which an individual subscribed to that norm (Kallgren et al., 2000).

References

Cialdini, R. B., & Griskevicius, V. (2019). Social influence. In Finkel, E. J., & Baumeister, R. F., Advanced social psychology: The state of the science (2nd ed., pp. 157–178). Oxford University Press.

Kallgren, C. A., Reno, R. R., & Cialdini, R. B. (2000). A focus theory of normative conduct: When norms do and do not affect behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(8), 1002–1012. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672002610009

Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H.R. (2021). Social psychology (11th ed.). Cengage.

Graduate Discussion Rubric.html

Graduate Discussion Rubric

Overview

Your active participation in the discussions is essential to your overall success this term. Discussion questions will help you make meaningful connections between the course content and the larger concepts of the course. These discussions give you a chance to express your own thoughts, ask questions, and gain insight from your peers and instructor.

Directions

For each discussion, you must create one initial post and follow up with at least two response posts.

For your initial post, do the following:

• Write a post of 1 to 2 paragraphs.
• In Module One, complete your initial post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
• In Modules Two through Ten, complete your initial post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
• Consider content from other parts of the course where appropriate. Use proper citation methods for your discipline when referencing scholarly or popular sources.

For your response posts, do the following:

• Reply to at least two classmates outside of your own initial post thread.
• In Module One, complete your two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
• In Modules Two through Ten, complete your two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
• Demonstrate more depth and thought than saying things like “I agree” or “You are wrong.” Guidance is provided for you in the discussion prompt.

Discussion Rubric

Criteria	Exemplary	Proficient	Needs Improvement	Not Evident	Value
Comprehension	Develops an initial post with an organized, clear point of view or idea using rich and significant detail (100%)	Develops an initial post with a point of view or idea using appropriate detail (90%)	Develops an initial post with a point of view or idea but with some gaps in organization and detail (70%)	Does not develop an initial post with an organized point of view or idea (0%)	20
Timeliness	N/A	Submits initial post on time (100%)	Submits initial post one day late (70%)	Submits initial post two or more days late (0%)	10
Engagement	Provides relevant and meaningful response posts with clarifying explanation and detail (100%)	Provides relevant response posts with some explanation and detail (90%)	Provides somewhat relevant response posts with some explanation and detail (70%)	Provides response posts that are generic with little explanation or detail (0%)	20
Critical Thinking	Draws insightful conclusions that are thoroughly defended with evidence and examples (100%)	Draws informed conclusions that are justified with evidence (90%)	Draws logical conclusions (70%)	Does not draw logical conclusions (0%)	30
Writing (Mechanics)	Initial post and responses are easily understood, clear, and concise using proper citation methods where applicable with no errors in citations (100%)	Initial post and responses are easily understood using proper citation methods where applicable with few errors in citations (90%)	Initial post and responses are understandable using proper citation methods where applicable with a number of errors in citations (70%)	Initial post and responses are not understandable and do not use proper citation methods where applicable (0%)	20
Total:	100%