Psychology Discussion/Assignment/Project

GUILT OR FEAR APPEAL Bring to mind pictures of sad puppy eyes and scrawny cats in dirty cages. Or think of images of impoverished children and messages about how a small gift can make a huge difference in their lives. Or recall public service announcements that feature frightening images of the effects of drug use and smoking. Consider how these and similar types of appeals use guilt or fear to try to persuade you to take action.

What are the ethical issues around using persuasive techniques that are intended to make recipients feel uncomfortable but for beneficial reasons? That is one of the issues you will explore this week through this Discussion. You will respond to a scenario in which you, as a professional in the line of work you currently do or would like to do, are tasked with designing a strong message using either the guilt or the fear appeal. As you create your messages, consider the relationship between the outcome you hope to achieve and the ethics of how you choose to get there.

To prepare:

Review Chapter 14 in the textbook. Develop the scenario by incorporating the following details. You may make up these details or base them on your workplace experiences. Include: Name and type of agency or organization Its purpose or mission Purpose of the message you are creating and what issue(s) it aims to address Target audience for the message Consider whether the fear or guilt appeal will be more effective for the target audience and to achieve the message goals. Create the text of the message, to include in your Discussion post. Check your message for ethical compliance using the code of ethics associated with the type of professional organization you chose.

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.

WEEKLY RESOURCES

BY DAY 3

Post responses to the following:

Present the text of your message and the relevant contextual details, including the sponsoring agency/organization, message purpose, and target audience. Explain how your message demonstrates the fear or the guilt appeal and your assessment of the message’s compliance with ethical standards. Justify your choice of appeal and why it should be effective for the target audience and issue(s).

Note: Be sure to support the responses within your initial Discussion post (and in your colleague reply) with information obtained from the assigned Learning Resources, including in-text citations and a reference list for sources used. For information regarding how your Discussion will be evaluated, please review the Rubric, located in the Course Information area of the course.

Respond respond to one of your colleagues by answering each of the following about the colleague’s guilt- or fear-appeal message:

Analyze the potential impact of the colleague’s message on the intended audience. Describe the strongest points made in your colleague’s analysis of the message.

BY DAY 5

WEEK 5: AT A GLANCE EMOTIONS AND PERSUASION

INTRODUCTION In previous weeks, you have examined how cognitive connections influence your ability to be persuaded. This week your focus will be exclusively on the affective, or emotional, component of your attitudes as they inform your behavior. Two of the emotions that you will consider are how guilt and fear influence people’s actions. Some persuaders are adept at tapping into those strong feelings because guilt and fear are uncomfortable emotions that people want to avoid or relieve. As you begin the week, take a moment to consider any examples of being persuaded by guilt or fear in your own experience or from history that can provide a context for your learning.

Social scientists have a name for uncomfortable feelings, which they call “dissonance.” Dissonant feelings involve society’s social display rules. For example, recall the Week 1 Discussion when you analyzed the methods you used to persuade another person. Although your aim was positive, you might have felt uncomfortable if you recognized coercive or manipulative strategies that you applied. When people’s behavior does not align with what they say they believe in, that may create dissonance. Sometimes dissonance can lead to gaining a new perspective.

This week, you will have the opportunity to imagine wearing the hat of a social justice advocate. You will create ways to induce and relieve dissonance in others in order to persuade them to consider other viewpoints. As you have throughout the course, remember that ethics are always a necessary consideration where persuasion, even for just purposes, is involved.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will:

Apply emotional message appeals Apply ethical guidelines related to persuasion messages

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT RESOURCES WEEK IN REVIEW

Analyze messages based on the guilt or fear appeal for impact Develop social change interventions to reduce prejudice Apply compliance strategies Use cognitive-dissonance theory to persuade

Back to Week at a Glance

PERSUASIVE HEALTH CAMPAIGN MESSAGE

In our busy world of constant communication, where we are bombarded by information and messages and needs, how do you cut through that noise to get people’s attention? How do you influence people to watch and listen to what you have to say, even if the topic is not one they have thought about before? How do you persuade them to take the action you request? That is your challenge and goal for this Discussion.

The issue is healthcare in rural areas of the United States. Your first task will be to educate yourself on the needs of people in these areas. If you live in an urban area, you may not be aware of the degree to which place informs resources available and access to those resources. Being poor and underserved in a rural area increases the needs of these residents. Consider this finding from the 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports : “Despite improvements, differences persist in health care quality among racial and ethnic minority groups. People in low-income families also experience poorer quality care.” (AHRQ, 2014, para.1)

Put on your advocacy hat, and remember the Walden University outcome to facilitate positive social change. The media message that you develop could impact services in a rural county where you live or in your state, now or in the future.

For this Discussion you will respond to the following scenario:

Imagine that you are an employee in the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) of your county. Your department is launching a campaign to increase quality services to the underserved in your community. You are tasked with developing a media message that HHSA will disseminate to the public, with the goal of persuading people to donate money for a mobile screening bus that can travel to rural areas of the county and reach underserved individuals and families.

To prepare:

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.

WEEKLY RESOURCES

Review Chapters 17 and 18 in the textbook and all of the required readings in the Learning Resources. Consider the strategies and techniques you learned this term. Be prepared to use at least one strategy/technique from the Week 6 Resources and at least two strategies/techniques from the course material from earlier in the term for a total of three strategies and/or techniques in your initial post. Consider the wording of the media message to include in your Discussion. Review this website from Week 2: Synder, W. S. (2011). Principles and practices for advertising ethics. Institute for Advertising Ethics . Retrieved from https://instituteforadvertisingethics.org/s/IAEPrincipalsandPractices.pdf Review the codes of ethics for various professional organizations from the Week 1 Learning Resources. Consider the ethics of your message. Think about how it adheres to the standards for human services professionals and/or to ethical principles for advertising and/or other standards/principles of ethics that are relevant to the work you are doing or want to do.

Post responses to the following:

Present the text of your media message. Consider the influence techniques and strategies you learned all term as well as those in the Week 6 Required Readings. Explain how you used a minimum of 3 strategies, techniques and/or principles (at least one from Week 6 Required Readings) to develop your message. Evaluate your reasoning for choosing these techniques. Justify how your media message is ethical by referencing specific codes of ethics and other resources.

Note: Be sure to support the responses within your initial Discussion post (and in your colleague reply) with information obtained from the assigned Learning Resources, including in-text citations and a reference list for sources used. For information regarding how your Discussion will be evaluated, please review the Rubric, located in the Course Information area of the course.

Important Note: You will make two response posts to colleagues for this Discussion. The first post is due by Day 5 of Week 6, and the second post is due by Day 7 of Week 6.

Response 1: respond to one of your colleagues by addressing each of the following about the colleague’s media message:

Evaluate the effectiveness of the media message based on your level of involvement. Explain whether your involvement was high or low and whether you would donate money based on the message. Evaluate the ethics of the message, and explain your reasoning, referencing the guidelines on which you base your judgment. Suggest ways to improve the media message, and explain your thinking.

BY DAY 3

BY DAY 5

Response 2: respond to one colleague’s feedback to your initial Discussion post in one of the following ways:

Explain changes you would make to your message and defend its efficacy. Explain why you would not implement the recommended changes and defend your message’s efficacy. If no one responds to your post, read what another colleague has suggested to someone else and consider how those suggestions could apply to your own media message.

Note: Be sure to support your second response with information from the assigned Learning Resources, including in-text citations and a reference list for sources used.

BY DAY 7

Back to Week at a Glance

MOTIVATION STRATEGIES People who join the helping professions, such as teaching, counseling, and crisis work, often speak about their passion to serve others. If you have ever been in a class or a work environment where you stood for others without a voice or for a cause you believed was right, you can be considered a social advocate. Social advocacy is one way as a Walden student and beyond that you can forward social change and fulfill the Walden University outcome to facilitate positive social change.

The persuasion theories and strategies that you are studying this week can add to your bank of knowledge and research to support you taking action as an advocate. This Assignment is an opportunity for you to practice use motivation and compliance strategies in your efforts to bring groups together to change minds and hearts.

For this Assignment, you will respond to the following scenario:

You are a social advocate for a group of individuals in your community who feel disconnected from the community because of their distinguishing characteristic(s) (e.g., language, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, beliefs) and have experienced discrimination. Members of this group want to use a room at the local community center for a much-needed program (e.g., language classes, an after-school program, a support group, etc). However, the individuals who run the community center, known as The Board, have a reputation of denying proposals from minority groups. As this group’s advocate, you believe that if you can get the two groups together, understanding and an agreement might be reached.

To prepare:

Review the Week 5 Learning Resources. Fill in the details of this scenario. Choose a group that you would advocate for based on your experience or interests, and identify a focus of their proposal based on a realistic need. Consider that The Board’s funding contract has a clause about serving the whole community. Consider how to use cognitive-dissonance theory to persuade a change in view by The Board in your scenario.

Submit a 3- to 5-page paper that includes the following:

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.

WEEKLY RESOURCES

BY DAY 7

PSYC_3007_Week5_Assignment_Rubric

You, your group and The Board are now at the meeting your group is going to present their proposal. Your goal is to get the board to feel cognitive dissonance. Explain why you want the Board to experience dissonance. Next, based on your readings, justify the specific activity that you believe will induce these feelings and why you chose this activity. Based on the techniques to relieve dissonance discussed in Chapter 15, explain an activity you will provide at the meeting to help The Board relieve their feelings of dissonance, discuss why your activity will be effective in helping them to relieve their dissonance. Why will relieving the Board’s dissonance be an important part of your meeting with them? Evaluate the ethics of using these compliance strategies and explain your reasoning based on specific ethical guidelines.

Note: Support the responses within your Assignment with evidence from the assigned Learning Resources, including in-text citations. Provide a reference list for resources you used for this Assignment.

Before submitting your final assignment, you can check your draft for authenticity. To check your draft, access the Turnitin Drafts from the Start Here area.

1. To submit your completed assignment, save your Assignment as WK5Assgn_LastName_Firstinitial

2. Then, click on Start Assignment near the top of the page. 3. Next, click on Upload File and select Submit Assignment for review.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Criteria Ratings Pts

Justify how and when The Board will experience dissonance at the meeting and why they would experience dissonant feelings (32 points)

32 pts

Explain an activity to help The Board relieve their feelings of dissonance (16 points)

16 pts

32 pts A Response is complete and accurate; contains sufficient details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

28 pts B Response is complete and mostly accurate; contains some details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

24 pts C Response is somewhat complete and/or is somewhat inaccurate; and/or does not contain sufficient details and/or explanation; includes some supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

20 pts D Response is incomplete or is mostly inaccurate; lacks sufficient details and/or explanation; does not include supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

0 pts F Response is incomplete; answers are inaccurate and/or not explained; no supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

16 pts A Response is complete and accurate; contains sufficient details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

14 pts B Response is complete and mostly accurate; contains some details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

12 pts C Response is somewhat complete and/or is somewhat inaccurate; and/or does not contain sufficient details and/or explanation; includes some supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

10 pts D Response is incomplete or is mostly inaccurate; lacks sufficient details and/or explanation; does not include supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

0 pts F Response is incomplete; answers are inaccurate and/or not explained; no supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

Criteria Ratings Pts

Discuss why this activity will help The Board relieve their feelings of dissonance (16 points)

16 pts

Evaluate the ethics of using these compliance strategies (16 points)

16 pts

16 pts A Response is complete and accurate; contains sufficient details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

14 pts B Response is complete and mostly accurate; contains some details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

12 pts C Response is somewhat complete and/or is somewhat inaccurate; and/or does not contain sufficient details and/or explanation; includes some supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

10 pts D Response is incomplete or is mostly inaccurate; lacks sufficient details and/or explanation; does not include supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

0 pts F Response is incomplete; answers are inaccurate and/or not explained; no supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

16 pts A Response is complete and accurate; contains sufficient details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

14 pts B Response is complete and mostly accurate; contains some details and/or explanation; includes supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

12 pts C Response is somewhat complete and/or is somewhat inaccurate; and/or does not contain sufficient details and/or explanation; includes some supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

10 pts D Response is incomplete or is mostly inaccurate; lacks sufficient details and/or explanation; does not include supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

0 pts F Response is incomplete; answers are inaccurate and/or not explained; no supporting information from the Learning Resources when necessary.

Criteria Ratings Pts

Quality of Writing (15 points)

15 pts

Information documentation (5 points)

5 pts

15 pts A Writing is clear and organized with few or no errors in mechanics, usage, grammar, or spelling (MUGS). There is a preponderance of original writing (i.e., use of own words and proper paraphrasing).

12 pts B Writing is mostly clear and organized with few MUGS errors. Writing is original (i.e., use of own words and proper paraphrasing).

10.5 pts C Writing is somewhat clear and organized with some MUGS errors. Most writing is original (i.e., use of own words and proper paraphrasing).

9 pts D Writing is somewhat unclear and disorganized and/or contains many MUGS errors. There is an overuse of direct quotations and/or ineffective paraphrasing.

0 pts F Writing is unclear and/or disorganized and/or contains many MUGS errors. There is an underuse of original writing and an overuse of directly quoted content.

5 pts A Information from the Learning Resources is properly documented with citation(s) and reference(s) in correct APA style.

3.5 pts B Information from the Learning Resources is partially documented with citation(s) and/or reference(s), and / or does not follow correct APA style.

0 pts C

0 pts D

0 pts F Information from the Learning Resources is not cited or referenced in any way.