activity paper . (film the stone family.)

Chapter 12

What is interpersonal influence?

 Any act (use) of communication, consciously intended or not,

that can affect attitudes, beliefs or behaviors/actions.

 Persuasion

 Using evidence and reasoning to change the beliefs,

attitudes, behaviors of others

Persuasion Goals

Persuasion Goals

Goals

 Two main goals

Primary goals: The inf luence goal that motivates the interaction

Types: gain assistance, give advice, obtain permission, etc

e.g., A health campaign message (promoting a daily

30-minute walk)

e.g., Ask your friend to use his/her car for moving

Talk to your classmates

 Do different goals require different styles of interpersonal influence?

 How do you feel when you try to influence others? Describe the situation and your goals.

 Secondary goals

 Identity

 Relationship

 Interaction

 Personal resources

 Arousal

 Definition of each secondary goal

 concerns about how we appear to others

 concerns about offending others while trying to persuade them

 concerns about acting socially appropriate and competent way

 concerns about costs that may be greater than benefits from the interaction

 concerns about losing temper when talking to someonee.g., How to tell your boss

you want a raise

Secondary goals

 Prioritize goals

•Pursue the single, most important goal, and abandon all the rest(e.g., when requesting a raise, focus on the identity goal rather than the relationship goal or the interaction goal)

How to accommodate multiple goals

 Sequence

•Follow goals in sequence (e.g., focus on the relationship goal, then the identity goal)

Understanding whether the target

may handle the request

 Potential obstacles to interpersonal inf luence

 Lack of possession: the message target does not possess the resources needed to comply

 No incentive: anticipating no benefit by complying with the attempt

e.g., You want your romantic partner lose

weight

 Recalcitrance: not wanting to comply; “leave me alone.”

 Postponement: putting off complying with the influence attempt

 Imposition: complying with the influence attempt would impinge on the message target’s prior plans

 Violation: the message target considers the influence attempts inappropriate

Case Study- The five steps Apple store salespeople talk to sell you an iphone

 1) What are the secondary goals that Apple emphasizes to sell an iphone (see Steps 1&2)? - Relationship & Interaction goals

 2) What obstacle(s) do salespeople predict and how can the obstacles be handled? (see Steps 3&4)

Goal: Selling an iphone to a customer

 Step 1. Approach with a personalized, warm welcome.

 Step 2. Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs.

 Step 3. Present a solution for the customer to take home today.

 Step 4. Listen for and resolve issues or concerns.

 Step 5. End with a fond farewell and invitation to return

 Potential obstacles to interpersonal inf luence

 Lack of possession: the message target does not possess the resources needed to comply

 No incentive: anticipating no benefit by complying with the attempt

 Recalcitrance: not wanting to comply; “leave me alone.”

 Postponement: putting off complying with the influence attempt

 Imposition: complying with the influence attempt would impinge on the message target’s prior plans

 Violation: the message target considers the influence attempts inappropriate

Not sure whether the new Ipad can

replace the portable

computer

I do not have enough money to

buy an iphone.

Not sure whether to buy a galaxy or an

iphone.

How to overcome obstacles to persuasion

 Adjust communication patterns

 Use messages appropriately for different targets (i.e., whether to pursue explicitness, arguments, or dominance in the message)

messages

 Types of messages 1

 Explicitness

 Benefit of clarity; opportunity for productive discussion

 Challenge target; puts pressure

Examples of explicitness in messages Explicit:

“I believe I deserve a raise and request you to consider it.”

Inexplicit: “I would like to know more about how this department rewards employees”

When will the use of an

explicit message be helpful?

e.g., “postponement” obstacle

e.g., You want your romantic partner lose

weight

messages

 Types of messages - 2

 Amount of argument

 Greater likelihood of positive reaction

 Same problems as explicit messages; potentially enforce the target to accept the request

Examples of arguments in messages

Low in argument:

“Smoking is bad for health and you should quit.”

High in argument:

“Smoking has been proven to be a cause of cancer for the smoker as well as people around smokers .”

messages

 Types of messages - 3

 Dominance

 Threatens face

 May evoke to negative reactions

Examples of dominance in messages

Dominant:

“Leave him, now!”

Not dominant:

“Please consider leaving him.” or “Why don’t you consider leaving him?”

e.g., “imposition” obstacle

e.g., When the target is not sure whether an

option A or B is better.

When will the use of a

dominant message be helpful?

Persuasion techniques – Theoretical approaches

o Politeness theory

o Classical conditioning

o Operant conditioning

o Cognitive dissonance theory

How to nudge others- Need to know target

Maintain face

Persuasion technique 1 – Managing face

Politeness theory

 People have “face,” which indicates public image of ourselves that we put out into the world.

Recall “identity” goal of persuasion

 People also have “face wants,” “the desire and expectation that others who surround them in interaction will work to affirm and preserve their public persona

 Politeness theory – cont.

o Positive face: the desire to be well-liked and admired by others (e.g., persuader’s goal to maintain face)

o Negative face: the desire to be autonomous and unconstrained (e.g., persuader’s goal not to impose on others what they may not be willing to do)

 Politeness theory – cont.

 Face-threatening act: any request for compliance has the potential to violate one or both types of face (e.g., disagreeing, interrupting, imposing, asking a favor, etc)

 Implications in persuasion strategies

 How to manage identity and relationship quality

How to appeal to your target

 Self-presentation strategies

 Ingratiation: appearing to like the target, being friendly

 Intimidation: appearing dangerous

 Self promotion: trying to be perceived as competent; emphasizing expert power

 Exemplification: being a “little angel” to impress; willing to do extra tasks.

Group Discussion 1 - The Office

 What self-presentation strategies does Pam use to persuade her colleague (Jim) and the boss (Michael) to buy chairs rather than a copy machine?

 Are these strategies useful enough to reduce barriers to persuasion? (think about the answer based on “politeness theory”)

Persuasion technique 2- Providing rewards or costs

 Learning theory

Learning Theory

 Logic: Behaviors can be changed by manipulating either stimulus or response.

 Models of learning

 Classical Conditioning

(changing stimulus)

 Operant Conditioning

(changing response)

e.g., You want your child to eat fruits every

morning.

Classical Conditioning

Pavlov’s dog experiment

Classical Conditioning

 e.g., Pavlov’s experiment – Whistling & Salivating

 Unconditioned stimulus: Smell of food

 Conditioned stimulus: Whistle

 Unconditioned + Conditioned stimulus – Creation of an association between the unconditioned and conditioned stimuli

Operant Conditioning Controlling consequences of behaviors through reinforcement

 Reinforcement

 Controlling the consequences of an action

- by apply positive or negative rewards

 Social reinforcers

 Acts of interpersonal approval or disapproval

 Self-reinforcement

 By rewarding ourselves when goals are met.

Are we watching classical or operant conditioning?

Persuasion technique 3 - Promoting new perspectives

How to promote new perspectives?

 Cognitive dissonance theory

 People like “Stability & Predictability.”

 Cognitive dissonance: Feelings of discomfort by holding two conf licting beliefs

 When two beliefs (or an action and a belief ) are dissonant, we feel the need to reduce the resulting discomfort.

Ways to reduce dissonance

 Change one or more of attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors

 Acquire new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs

 Reduce the importance of dissonant beliefs

e.g., A sincere Christian first-year college student whose parents ban drinking

before the age 25 is suggested a drink at a party

e.g., Smoking vs. concern about health

Group activity – In-class question

 Applying classical conditioning approach, explain how you inf luence your romantic partner to have dinner with you every Friday evening. Also explain your self- presentation strategies for inf luencing your partner.

 Applying cognitive dissonance theory, explain how you will persuade the instructor to reduce the number of articles that you need to review for LRP 3. Identify two dissonant beliefs that the instructor will encounter. Also, propose a way in which the instructor may reduce the dissonance.