Social Problems In Uae Sociology Essay

Social Problems In Uae Sociology Essay Social problem is defined as the issue or problem which has seen by people of community as unacceptable or undesirable. But social problems are not under the control of a single person. Social problems mainly arise when there is a social disruption or social change. UAE is continent which consists of such countries which are fully developed and have extensive growth towards success every day. So it is a great social change in society as a result which on one hand has put an end to several social issues such as poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, crime but on the other this social change have given rise to several social problems such as drug abuse. Younger generation is becoming a victim of this problem greatly usually because of some kind of depression they are facing or may be because of the peer pressure. Furthermore discrimination in society is rising since Dubai has become a multi culture society now having people of different countries with different cast religion and different race. Moreover because of the social change in a society family rules have changed to a greater extent making it difficult for the people to hold their relationships for a long time. Since every person is busy in his own life so no time is left for family get together and for the spouse as well. Also high cost of living, problems of expatriates is major social issues. INTRODUCTION Social issues are the problems that affect more than one person in a society in any way possible. Sometimes social problems affect directly sometimes indirectly to a person or society. Social problems are usually not in the control of a person and it occurs in immediate social environment mostly because of some social change in society. There are certain examples such as a person has murdered someone but it is not a social problem it is a part of biggest social issue called crime which is prevailing very much in society. Most common social issues that exist in a developing or underdeveloped society include poverty, illiteracy, crime, human rights etc. the rest problems are developed from them such as immigration but immigration is a social plus economic problem. Moreover discrimination, sexual harassment, child abuse, injustice, drug abuse, divorces, and obesity are developed from the major problems of society. All the social problems have adverse effects on people which are part of the society. The societys norms values, customs and traditions all got changed and affected by the social problems prevailing in a society. Even the entire system of the society disrupts because of this but it cant be controlled since it occurs as a result of the external factors which a single person cannot control. UAE is continent which consists of such countries which are fully developed and have extensive growth towards success every day. So it is a great social change in society as a result which on one hand has put an end to several social issues such as poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, crime but on the other this social change have given rise to several social problems such as drug abuse. Younger generation is becoming a victim of this problem greatly usually because of some kind of depression they are facing or may be because of the peer pressure. Furthermore discrimination in society is rising since Dubai has become a multi culture society now having people of different countries with different cast religion and different race. Moreover because of the social change in a society family rules have changed to a greater extent making it difficult for the people to hold their relationships for a long time. Since every person is busy in his own life so no time is left for family get together and for the spouse as well. EXPLANATION OF CHOICE OF FOUR INTERVIEWS I am conducting interviews of four family members of mine which are my younger sister, my mother, my father and my grandfather. Ive chosen my younger sister for conducting interview regarding such topic because she is young and she can give me her fresh view regarding the social issue that are spreading in the entire UAE. As she currently is a college student so she definitely will present the problems or issues of the young generation. So she gave me information regarding the issues of drug abuse which is spreading extensively in youngsters. And secondly she notified me about the problem of obesity that is a huge problem in developed countries especially among children. Secondly I am taking interview from my father who works as a sales person in a leading company of Dubai. Ive chosen him for this interview because he is one generation before us. And he can express his views regarding the social issues of UAE but his views will reflect his entire generation. Also he is a working person so he definitely would have known and understand the environment of the workplace and can also give details relating to the social problems occur in a working place. He told me about the problem of discrimination occurring is workplaces. Also he notified me about the problem of expatriates. The third person Ive chosen for my research on social issue in UAE is my mother. She is a house wife and is responsible for everything that happens in a hose hold. Ive chosen her for conducting interview on such a sensitive topic since she is women and in order to get a female point of view on such a topic is necessary. Also she can better explain the relationship problems than any other person. So she acknowledged me about the problem of high rate of divorces in UAE and also she pointed out the problem of high cost of living in a society of UAE. Furthermore Ive selected my grandfather for conducting an interview from him. Ive selected him because he is from two generations behind mine. So he can give me views regarding the social issues of UAE that reflects his generation. He presents the problem of depression which is becoming very common in UAE because of workaholics and change of family rules. (Khondkar, 2008) THREE GENERATION GENEALOGY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS Social problem is defined as the issue or problem which has seen by people of community as unacceptable. Some social issues are considered unacceptable by literally all members of the society such as kidnapping, violence, crime, murders etc Bt there are social issues as well that are not necessarily undesirable by all community members for example youngster do not consider listening very loud music a social issue but it is a social issue for elder members of society. There are several types of social problems prevailing in different countries of the world such as poverty, illiteracy, food and water crisis, poor health facilities are some of the most common problems in developing countries. Moreover terrorism is also one of the major social problems emerging in many countries now days. Furthermore discrimination of sex, injustice, inflation, immigration, child labor, drug abuse, and smuggling are also few big social problems of today. Due to extensive growth and unimaginable development in UAE there is a major social change occurring there which is causing so many social problems. Social problems occur in UAE society is of many types and there is no clear way to solve these issues in the near future. From the time of independence of UAE many the society of UAE has completely evolved and social issues with the time has also changed. Since UAE has gained the status of one of the developed countries of the world so problems in society also have evolved in the same manner. One of the most important social issues in UAE is drug abuse. This problem has spread on a large scale and a lot of people are under the influence of this problem. Illegal trade of drugs from different countries where drug is produced is the main cause for this problem and this is happening because of the security lapses of UAE. Also the alcoholism is a major social issue in UAE. Moreover the divorce rate is very high in UAE which is a big social problem in this era. Smoking and road accidents are also causing problems for the people living there. Ethnic cleansing, racism and prostitution are also some of the highlighted social problems. (Social Issues in USA Contemporary, 2009) According to the interviews conducted by me of my younger sister who is a college student currently I concluded a few very important points regarding to the social issues of UAE. OBESITY Firstly obesity is a big concern now days. Obesity is actually defined as the excess fat of a person that is causing adverse effects on that persons health. Obesity becomes the reason for so many diseases such as cancer, heart problems, and diabetes etc. a person is considered that he is affected by obesity when his weight is at least 20% more than his normal weight. The major causes of obesity are firstly the genetics. Obesity can be in the gens of a person. Also over eating and eating lots of junk food is a major reason for this problem. All the countries of UAE are affected by this problem because people there have a busy lifestyle so they have much time for exercise to get them fit and remove extra fat from their bodies. Furthermore workaholics do not eat at home and usually go out for eating junk food which increases their fat to a high level. DRUG ABUSE Drug abuse is one of the problems now days that is affecting every community and country badly. It is a serious health illness problem that is causing 40 million deaths every year. There are several causes for this problem including the depression which is very high in developed countries since workload is very high and it is difficult and stressful to maintain a good life style there. Also because of separate families instead of joint families systems feelings of loneliness overcome them makes them to take drugs. Drug abuse among the youth is very much increasing mostly because of the pressure of the friends on them. Bad social gatherings and wrong friend circle makes a person to get involved in all such bad activities. Also alcoholism and smoking are the problems that spread in the same manner. Youngsters also do such activities because they have the perception that it gives them a cool look. Drug abuse has negative effects on a persons life such as health problems. Also drugs addicted become a victim of financial problem since they cant control them and spend a lot of money in buying drugs. Moreover a drugs addicted is no more efficient to be a part of social gathering anymore. He is socially destroyed because at the time of taking drugs his behavior becomes very abnormal. Drug abuse can make a person to involve in other crimes also such as drugged driving, violence, child abuse etc In accordance with the interview conducted by my mother Ive got to understand few social issues prevailing in our society. HIGH DIVORCE RATE Divorce is one of the biggest social problems spreading in UAE society and its rate is increasing day by day. The main reason for high rate of divorces in the country is that the traditional rules of marriage are changing because of the working women scenario and also the joint family system has ended which makes it difficult for women to handle their entire house hold plus professional life and thus the relationship between husband and wife badly disturbs making it difficult for them to continue to live together and divorces happens as a result. Moreover another important reason for divorces is marriages at a younger age. At that time the couple is not able to understand each other and their maturity level to handle marriage is low. So they easily move towards the path of divorce. And also it is the fault of parents who pressurize their children to marry at a younger age. Furthermore high expectations from marriage sometimes lead it to a poor relationship because husband and wife expects so much from each other but do not prepare themselves to be able to fulfill the expectations of their partner. Divorce has certain negative impacts on the entire family and the children always affected badly in such situations. They become very sensitive and emotionally unstable. Further it is difficult for them to adjust in new families in case of their parents got engaged into second marriages. Moreover they feel complexes in schools and in other social gatherings. (Divorce in the uae causes effects, 2009) HIGH COST OF LIVING The cost of living in UAE is high as compared to other places. It has proved from different surveys conducted by researchers when they compared a same quantity of basket of goods in UAE and from other places. Since the country has reached to the greater heights of development the life style of established people in Dubai and in other countries is very lavished which makes it difficult for the expatriates to live there since the expatriates have usually low incomes. It is also difficult for them to even educate their children and also their children can become a victim of complex if they study with the people of high class. Communication costs are high as compared to other places and phone calls are really very expensive locally as well as internationally. Buying property is very expensive in Dubai and in other developed countries of UAE. House hold accommodations, clothing, furniture and appliances are also expensive so its hard for a person with normal income to live there. In accordance with the interview taken by my father Ive got to understand two important social issues that we are facing as a society of UAE. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Since a lot of people from different countries are shifting to Dubai for the purpose of doing business there or for getting jobs as UAE have good opportunities for them. These people belong to different religion, culture, different race, and cast. So UAE has become a multicultural society and in such a society problems of racial discrimination often occurs. At work places people are usually be given less pay only because they belong to other foreign countries which are not liked by the employer of the place. And also high work load is given to the different culture employees. For example the employer of the hotel would want that his customers are served by the European staff. And if those people raise issues about this matter they might get into conflicts with the management or the colleagues too. There is also a great discrimination in case of race and nationality in the workplace. And because of the discrimination people are getting dissatisfied and large families in UAE become a victim of this issue. PROBLEM OF EXPATRIATES So many people are getting settled in UAE leaving their native countries behind. Expatriates basically do that because they are attracted to the employment and investment opportunities of the country where they want to shift and their own home country do not have such opportunities for them. But it is becoming a greater problem for the government of Dubai to accommodate so many people and thus the country is becoming over populated because of the large number of expatriates. 74% of the population of UAE is the people who are not from UAE but have shifted from other countries for employment or for doing some sort of business. When so many expatriates come and settle in to the country the major problem of homogeneous society occurs. And in such a multicultural society several problems of discrimination can occur too. According to the interview conducted by my grandfather Ive got to understand few important points regarding the social issues prevailing in the UAE society DEPRESSION Since a lot of people living in UAE are expatriates who may or may not live with their family in UAE. Living alone and continuous work of day and night can make a victim of depression and isolation which can greatly affect their health especially they can have mental issues because of this. Also because in such developed countries the concept of family has completely changed and so there is no such family gatherings and spending time with family which can make them feel relax for a little time. And give them a break from their workaholic lives. As in such developed countries every person has to work really hard to earn good money which is their necessity otherwise they cant settle their because standard of living is very high. (Ronnegard, 2010) USE OF INTERVIEW MATERIAL I have conducted four interviews in my family. Interviews were conducted in a professional setup to get the job done in a good manner. Questions were designed specially to get the maximum information out of them in a comfortable and easy manner. And also it was considered that all the questions must be in accordance with the topic of prevailing social issues in society of UAE. Questions were mostly open ended in order to get a detailed analysis of the topic. The interviews were formal in nature which Ive conducted from my mother and father. But the interviews conducted by my sister and grandfather were informal in nature. Because I have more comfort level with them. I didnt start my interview in cold manner rather than that Ive start interviews with a small talk to reach to the topic of social issues in UAE. And I was very natural in taking interviews not the practiced and rehearsed tone was there. I have listened carefully to every word of them and write down the points in order to make sense of the information they are presenting. And throughout the interviews Ive kept my topic in mind and didnt divert from it to gather relevant information. Relevant Reading Course Material Patterns of corruption in MENA Region Little is known on the specific forms and nature of corruption in the MENA region, due to the lack of empirical data and political will for such scrutiny. Yet, there is a general consensus that both petty corruption and grand corruption are widespread and systemic. The Arab countries comprising the Middle East often referred to as the MENA region face a set of specific challenges that are seriously hampering the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts. The political and institutional infrastructure of Arab states partly accounts for the persistence of the governance gap in the region, while contextual factors such as insecurity, oil wealth and prevalence of conflict continue to fuel corruption and the lack of transparency. Throughout the MENA region, anti-corruption strategies have primarily focused on strengthening public institutions, reviewing laws and regulations and simplifying procedures, with little attention given to proactively improving transparency and democratic processes. Although the region is not entirely homogeneous, regional patterns of corruption emerge from various governance surveys and indicators (an overview of these is provided on page 7). Transparency internationals Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) consistently ranks MENA countries below the world Article 1 The study conducted by Sharjah university revealed that the main reason behind high rates of drug lies in the lack of communication between the individuals. The constant verbal fight is particularly the reason behind this. Since pre-martial relationships are not considered good in our society, therefore, couple is not aware of nature of each other. The interference of in laws is also the biggest reason behind the drug cases. Unfortunately, the people who are extremely badly affected due to drug consumption in children. The children face various mental and physical challenges when they see constant tussle between their parents. (Sheriff, 2012) Article 2 The Emiratis are normally family centered people who love to live in families and care for each other needs and wills. However, the trends in the recent years have shown that the institute of marriage is being severely hurted. The reports have shown that 42 percent of the people in the age bracket of 20s have decided to quit their relationships on different grounds. However, the people blame the influence of western culture as the main reason behind the change in attitudes and beliefs of the people. The western culture believes in absolute freedom where absolutely no impetus is laid on the family lives. The younger generation is reported to have been following the same footsteps. (Safdar, 2009) Article 3 According to the Shariah laws existing in UAE, the decision related to divorce making process is not instantaneous. Initially, the applicants forward their case to the courts. The matter is referred to the counsellor who gives a three month period to the couple to enter into negotiations. If the case is not resolved in the allotted time, the case is referred to the judge for the enforcement of divorce. A women can get divorce if she is able to prove that wife has been physically tortured. The women can accept Khula if she returns dowry to the husband. The expats can resolve the issues according to the laws of their particular land. (Bardsley, 2005) SIGNIFICANCE OF GENERATION AND GENDER PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS It is very important to get acknowledged about the social issues prevailing in a society as it increases our understanding of society which we are a part of. Until and unless we do not understand the society in which we are living it would be very difficult for us to sustain there. Also to bring some kind of social change in a society it is necessary to know what do we actually want to change in our society and what we like and what we dont like in our society. Different generations have different perspectives regarding this issue and it is significant to know and understand each perspective in great detail. Firstly every male and female is a member of this society so all the different generation people here. Therefore to make it easy and comfortable for every generation to adjust in a society their views are important. Moreover by the analysis of generation and gender perspective of social issues we get very diverse and variety of ideas that can help us understand the social problems and society better. As the minds of people belongs to different generation are different from each other and so their preference in regarding to the major social problems currently spreading in UAE society. Male and female have different perspectives regarding the social issues rising in a society. Females are usually sensitive and relationship oriented thats they think that the major social problems will be according to these issues as the interview conducted by me of my mother she said that the biggest social problems now in a society belongs to the family issues such as high divorce rate in UAE and also the social problem of high cost of living is being highlighted by her. And talking about the male perspective in this regard they preferred to consider the social problems more towards the work place issues because they are not sensitive and relationship oriented rather they are the work oriented so my father pointed out the issues of discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race cast and creed because UAE is a multicultural society. Also he referred about the problem of expatriates in a country. Therefore it is very important to understand the gender perspective of social problems of UAE.

The Struggle to Get it All Straight :: Personal Narrative Writing Papers

The Struggle to Get it All Straight I. I first began writing--really writing--sometime around my sophomore year of high school. Since then, I have consistently received high marks and flattering compliments for my work. But I still suffer this insecurity which Judith Guest describes perfectly. She says that after achieving great success in her writing she found that she was "still telling [herself] that [she] wasn't really a writer, but a trickster" (xii). Ah, yes. I know that feeling. Every paper I am asked to write, I fear will be my undoing--that it will be the assignment which proves that I haven't been able to write the whole time, that I'm nothing but crafty. My undergraduate degree carries with it an emphasis in creative writing; for four years I wrote mostly poetry. I didn't know it, but the poetry courses gave me my first introduction to Rhetorical Theory. There I met the generative techniques of Peter Elbow and Natalie Goldberg which make so much sense to me. I appreciated these exercises, which, as Guest notes, "[give] people permission to think the thoughts that come, and to write them down, and make sense of them in any way they wish" (xii). Between the covers of my journal, I took on the premise of Goldberg's book Writing Down the Bones : Learning to write is not a linear process. There is no logical A-to-B-to-C way to become a good writer. One neat truth about writing cannot answer it all. There are many truths. To do writing practice means to deal ultimately with your whole life. (3) Because I understood the idea without understanding the possibilities, these courses didn't change my life--instead they were a reprieve from "real" life, a reprieve from the the standards of "real" academics. Although I enjoyed other English courses, I never felt the freedom that those writing courses offered me--the opportunity to create my own understanding from a personal perspective. Instead I wrote the essays about subject matter, and in the kind of language, I thought those teachers wanted to hear. This contradiction between these two types of English courses was something I accepted without question. Two years ago the issue really opened itself up for me. I had been out of school for a few years and was a little nervous about returning to the world of academic writing. That spring quarter I had three writing courses and an American Literature course.

We Wear the Mask Essay -- Literary Analysis, Paul Laurence Dunbar

William Shakespeare once proclaimed that â€Å"the past is prologue.† Are we really bound by history? Is our present a mere continuation, a monomorphic continuation if you will, of the novel that is our existence, or can it be developed in a bifurcated fashion? Paul Lawrence Dunbar, prominently noted as the "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race" (p 905) is a prime example of how the past can be depicted in a multifold manner. His two works " We Wear the Mask" and "An Ante-Bellum Sermon" illustrate the double-consciousness that Dunbar was most notorious for. It must be noted, however, that these two works, despite differing in forms of dialect, are conflations of one source, through an intrinsic connection. One will evidently see both the apparent polarity and hidden exemplification associated with the implementation of duality within the aforementioned poems. Dunbar's ability to conflate the standard English verse and the "Negro" dialect not only enables him to illustrate yeste rday's hardships but also tomorrow's promises, in which each poem in itself epitomizes the properties of bifurcation through juxtaposition and exemplification. To exemplify, Dunbar's poem "We Wear the Mask" utilizes the standard English verse to shed light on the hidden "tears and sighs" (p 918,1) of African Americans, particularly slaves. As one maneuvers through the poem, he/she will notice a transition of thought, not necessarily of time. In other words, the time frame does not shift throughout the poem. The past is not a date or a mark on a timeline, it is the previously held belief of the speaker. What shifts is the speaker's perspective of the mask. He transitions from mourning the conditions of those wearing it(past view), to perhaps noting its benefits( ... ...s. We have seen, through the two works analyzed above, how the incorporation and recognition of the past[both in terms of time(Biblical and Antebellum) and thought] depicted a metamorphosis within the "Negro" slave and his ability to transcend this institution of imprisonment. Du Bois, who coined the term double-consciousness, used it to label persons whose identities were multifaceted in nature. Of course we see Dunbar's use of two forms of verse as fitting pieces to the puzzle that is double-consciousness, but, we have yet to realize that we have not found all the pieces. The other pieces lie in the speakers within each poem, as exemplified in this essay. The transformation of perception, initiated and propelled by the acknowledgement of the past(in multiple forms), can certainly be at the crux of the double-consciousness that defines Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Verbal Behavior Essay -- Analysis, Skinner

Skinner's book â€Å"Verbal Behavior,† first published in 1957, presented his ideas about the influence of language can be used in the framework for behavioral research and analysis. The main argument presented by Skinner was that verbal behavior was different than other forms of behavior and deserved to be separated in a distinctive category, and Skinner considered language development as the result of mediation of other people while nonverbal behavior was enforced through the physical environment. Skinner defined the basic verbal operants in his analysis of verbal behavior, which include the mand, tact, intraverbal, echoic, and the autoclitic operants, and he distinguished the type of consequence for each operant. Furthermore, the theory defines the audience as a discriminative stimulus that will affect language development as it gives the signs of possible rewards or punishment. There was no previous research on the topic, so the lack of data available for writing the book and lack of experiments in the book, and the theory was subject to severe criticism and ignored in the academic community for several decades after it was published (McPherson, Bonem, Green, & Osborne, 1984). Although Skinner's language development theory was not accepted in the academic community or applied frequently in research until the 1990s (Sundberg, & Michael, 2001), Skinner's verbal behavior theory successfully defines verbal operants relevant to the basic behavioral principles. This essay will show that the main implication to the development of this theory is the severe criticism of Skinner's theory as unsound and consisted of plagiarized traditional ideas. Despite the criticism against Skinner's theory, it is questionable if the criticism itself prov... ...tals of language development, applying Skinner's theory could rule out those errors and prove to be successful in its applications. Rather than criticizing Skinner's theory based on the lack of empirical evidence presented in his book, or denying the effectiveness of the theory for several seemingly irrelevant reasons, such as the unclear definition of its correlation to a neurological-genetic theory (MacCorquodale, 1970), empirical research should provide clear evidence on the credibility of Skinner's theory. Although the entire theory does not have to be proven successful, several aspects of Skinner's theory have proven successful in conducting behavioral interventions (Sundberg & Michael, 2001). Recent studies show increased use of Skinner's language development framework, so the criticism against the theory was obviously a major implication to its development.

Conflict resolution

Successful negotiations pave the way for smooth relationships in the future. To find peaceful solutions to difficult situations. Full-blown battles use up resources time, energy, good reputation, motivation. By negotiating, you avoid wasting these resources, and you may actually make new allies and find new resources! When should you resolve conflict? Conflict resolution is appropriate for almost any disagreement. Our daily lives offer plenty of opportunities for negotiation – between parents and children, co-workers, friends, etc. And as a result, you probably already have a variety of effective strategies for resolving minor conflicts. But for more serious conflicts, and conflicts between groups rather than individuals, you may need some additional skills. How, for example, should you structure a meeting teens your group and your opponent? When should you settle, and when should you fight for more? How should you react if your opponent attacks you personally? Read on for mor e information on specific conflict resolution techniques. How should you resolve conflict?There are seven steps to successfully negotiating the resolution of a conflict: 1. Understand the conflict 2. Communicate with the opposition 3. Brainstorm possible resolutions 4. Choose the best resolution Use a third party mediator 5. 6. Explore alternatives 7. Cope with stressful situations and pressure tactics Understand the conflict Conflicts arise for a variety of different reasons. It is important for you to define clearly your own position and interests in the conflict, and to understand those of your opponent. Here are some questions to ask yourself so that you can better define the conflict.Inertest What are my interests? What do I really care about in this conflict? What do I want? What do I need? What are my concerns, hopes, fears? Possible Outcomes What kinds of agreements might we reach? Legitimacy What third party, outside of the conflict, might convince one or both of us that a proposed agreement is a fair one? What objective standard might convince s that an agreement is fair? For example: a law, an expert opinion, the market value of the transaction. Is there a precedent that would convince us that an agreement is fair? Their Interests What are the interests of my opposition?If were in their shoes, what would I really care about in this conflict? What do they want? What do they need? What are their concerns, hopes, fears? Interests play an important role in better understanding conflict. Often, groups waste time â€Å"bargaining over positions. † Instead of explaining what the interests of their position are, they argue about their â€Å"bottom line. † This is not useful way to negotiate, because it forces groups to stick to one narrow position. Once they are entrenched in a particular position, it will be embarrassing for them to abandon it.They may spend more effort on â€Å"saving face† than on actually finding a suitable resoluti on. It is usually more helpful to explore the group's interests, and then see what positions suit such interests. Example: Your parent group wants the high school to change its history textbook. You feel that the textbook doesn't represent the history of Africa adequately. You come to the School Committee and say, â€Å"The only textbook that works for us s The People of Jamaica, and that's final! † You have presented a position rather than your interests.By drawing a bottom line, you're stuck in one position. If you don ‘t convince the School Committee to choose this textbook, you'll lose. A more effective way to approach the School Committee would be to state your interests. You might say, â€Å"We're concerned about the under- representation of racial minorities in the current Jamaican history textbook, and would like to find an alternative. † By communicating your interests, rather than one position, you are leaving some room to negotiate while still Ewing fi rm and clear about your goals. Often, the same interest can have many positions.For example, the School Committee might vote to us plenty the history textbook with a packet of articles about minorities as well as other thing about minorities in Jamaica. These are different positions that address the same interest. Communicate with the opposition Now that you have thought through your own interests and those of the other party, you can begin to communicate directly with your opposition. Here are some tips for productive talks: Listen. Their opinions are important to you, because their Opinions are the source of your conflict. If something is important to them, you need to recognize this.Recognizing does not mean agreeing of course! Let everyone participate who wants to. People who participate will have a stake in a resolution. They will want to find a good compromise. Talk about your strong emotions. Let the other side let off steam. Don't, however, react to emotional outbursts! Try an apology instead of yelling back. Apologizing is not costly, and is often a rewarding technique. Be an active listener. Rephrase what you're hearing as a question: â€Å"Let me see if I'm following you. You're saying that†¦ Have got that right? † You can still be rim when you're listening. Speak about yourself, not the other party.In the textbook example, you might say, â€Å"l feel angry to know that my children are reading this old-fashioned textbook,† rather than, â€Å"How could you choose such a racist book? † Be concrete, but flexible. Speak about your interests, not about your position. Avoid early judgments. Keep asking questions and gathering information. Don't tell the opposition, â€Å"It's up to you to solve your problems. † Work to find a solution for everyone. Find a way to make their decision easy. Try to find a way for them to take your position without looking cake, but don't call it a way for them to â€Å"save face. Egos are imp ortant in negotiations! Brainstorm Possible Resolutions Now that you know what the interests of both parties are, and how to better communicate with the opposition, you can start thinking about solutions. Look at all of the interests you have listed, for you and for your opponents, and look for common interests. Often both parties share many interests for example, both groups may want stability and public respect. Before you hold a brainstorming meeting, think carefully about how you'll set up the meeting. Write a clear purpose statement for the meeting. Try to choose a small group of 5-8 people total.Hold the meeting in a different environment from your usual setting. Make sure the setting is an informal one where people feel comfortable and safe. Find an unbiased facilitator, someone who can structure the meeting without sharing his or her own feelings about the conflict. To begin brainstorming, decide whether you want to brainstorm with your opposition, or with only your group. I n either case, you will want to establish some ground rules. Work on coming up with as many ideas as possible. Don't judge or criticize the ideas yet that might prevent people room thinking creatively.Try to maximize (not minimize) your options. Look for win-win solutions, or compromises, in which both parties get something they want. Find a way to make their decision easy During the meeting, seat people side by side, facing the â€Å"problem†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a blank chalkboard or large pad of paper for writing down ideas. The facilitator will remind people of the purpose of the meeting review the ground rules, and ask participants to agree to those rules. During the brainstorming session, the facilitator will write down all ideas on the chalkboard or pad. Choose the best resolutionAfter the meeting, you will need to decide which resolution is best. Review your brainstorm ideas. Star the best ideas – these are whatnot will work With during the conflict resolution process. Set a time to discuss them and determine which idea is the best. The goal here is to use both groups' skills and resources to get the best result for everyone. Which resolution gives both groups the most? That resolution is probably the best one. Use a third party mediator As you are brainstorming and choosing a good resolution, you may want to use a third party mediator.This is a person who is not from your group or our opponent's group, but whom you both trust to be fair. Your mediator can help both sides agree upon a standard by which you'll judge your resolution. Standards are a way to measure your agreement. They include expert opinions, law, precedent (the way things have been done in the past), and accepted principles. For example, let's say you're building a new playground for your town's elementary school. You disagree with the superintendent about what kinds of materials you'll use to build the playground. The superintendent wants to use chemical-treated wood, but you feel it' s unsafe.A mediator might read the current guidelines of the lumber industry and tell you which kinds of wood are considered safe for children. Maybe you and the superintendent will agree to follow the lumber industry's advice-?in other words, to use that as the standard. Your mediator could also, for example, run your brainstorming session. Here are some other possible jobs for a mediator: Setting ground rules for you and your opponent to agree upon (for example, you might both agree not to publicly discuss the dispute) Creating an appropriate setting for meetings Suggesting possible ways to compromiseBeing an â€Å"ear† for both side's anger and fear Listening to both sides and explaining their positions to one another Finding the interests behind each side's positions Looking for win-win alternatives Keeping both parties focused, reasonable, and respectful Preventing any party from feeling that it's â€Å"losing face† Writing the draft of your agreement with the opp osition Perhaps Harriet is considering quitting her job because her boss wants to transfer her to another office.The mediator might say, â€Å"It sounds like Harriet doesn't care about transferring to the downtown office. What she's worried about is losing rank. Harriet, do you agree with that? Ms. Snell, do you understand Harrier's concern? How can we assure Harriet that she won't lose rank if she agrees to transfer? ‘ Explore alternatives There may be times when, despite your hard work and good will, you cannot find an acceptable resolution to your conflict. You need to think about this possibility before you begin negotiations.At what point will you decide to walk away from negotiations? What are your alternatives if you cannot reach an agreement with your opponent? It is important that you brainstorm your alternatives to resolution early on in the negotiation process, and that you always have your best alternative somewhere in the back of your mind. As you consider possib le agreements with your opponent, compare them to this â€Å"best† alternative. If you don't know what the alternative is, you'll be negotiating without all the necessary information!In order to come up with an alternative, start by brainstorming. Then, consider the pros and cons of each alternative. Think about which alternative is realistic and practical. Also think about how you can make it even better. At the same time, don't forget to put yourself in the shoes of your opposition. What alternatives might they have? Why might they choose them? What can you do to make your choice better than their alternative? Roger Fisher and Danny Retell call this alternative your BATAAN Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.You can read more about BAT AN in their book Getting Ready to Negotiate. Cope with stressful situations and pressure tactics So far, we've talked about how to negotiate with a fairly reasonable opponent. However, you need to be prepared to negotiate with all kind s of opponents, both reasonable and unreasonable. What if your opponent is more powerful and influential that you are? What if they refuse to meet or alkyl with you? All of these situations are stressful, and intended to put extra pressure on you to make a quick decision in the opposition ‘s favor. Conflict resolution Healthy organizations which are characterized by well developed problem -solving mechanisms and a collaborative climate are able to identify conflict and deal with it in a elaborative way that leaves the organization stronger and better developed rather than weakened and wracked with hostility (Owens, Valleys, 2011). The potential conflict in this elementary school can be approached with five possible methods namely: muscle, reconciliation, harmony, retreat, and collaboration. The muscle method is assertive, aggressive, and competitive.This style creates win-lose situation. This is termed as † I am the boss. Just do it! â€Å". The reconciliation method is one of accommodating, giving in and acquiescing to preserve relationships while resolving the conflict, at least immemorially. The harmony style assumes a â€Å"middle ground,† aimed at achieving compromise in order to resolve conflict. On the other hand, retreat method avoids or withdraws in from the conflict. It is aimed at not becoming involved with conflict and the strong feelings it may generate.The collaborating approach attempts to reach consensus and stresses working together for a mutual solution to conflicts. (Owens, valleys,201 1). In order to manage the conflict in this elementary school and the community in question, the collaborative method seems in my opinion the most attractive approach in order to lessen the destructive hostility among the staff and all parties t and to pave the way for opportunities of growth and development of the school and the community as a whole.The first step I will take as a new principal is to get to the source of the imminent conflict sweeping across the school environment. I will have a private meeting with the librarian, the physical education teacher, and each of the other parties involved to be able to get to the root of the conflict. With eye contacts, open heartiness and impartial attitude, I will listen actively and discuss the issues tit these individuals privately. After that, I will form a committee comprising of teachers, staff members, parents, community members, administrators, board of directors, and all stakeholders.I will have a meeting with the committee to discuss the issue at hand while the director Of schools and myself serve as facilitators. Each party will present its view of the problem while the other parties listen attentively without interruption. We as facilitators will ensure that each party states its case clearly and calmly without personally attacking the other parties. Secondly, I will ask each party to state two or three specific suggestions on how it thinks the conflict could be solved. An example might be,† I will like the administration to handle all field trip approvals†.Another clear suggestion might be, â€Å"I will like all teachers and staff to select a representative from their respective department to handle curriculum and standards issues†. It is of paramount importan ce for the facilitators to encourage and prompt each party to identify the root cause of the problem and then come up with specific ways that will resolve the issue Seafarer, 2007). Through the lens of impartiality, active listening skills and compassion, I will ensure that the suggestions presented are thoroughly discussed and agreed upon to make the necessary changes.At this point, all parties will be encouraged to engage each other in a reasonable and professional manner to come to an agreement on the suggestions made and are satisfied with the implementation Of the resolutions. For instance, the veteran librarian will be satisfied with the resolution that bus duties will be assigned to any teacher who volunteers for that opportunity. Parents will be satisfied with the opportunity to lead and provide interesting programs for parent -teacher association.Also they will be excited to be given the golden chance to be part of the decision making body of the school improvement ventures . The final step for the facilitators, especially me is to set up a date for the resolutions to be enacted and follow up on its progress. It is of cardinal importance for me to fearlessly look into the conflict in detail, if necessary. If new policies or procedures need to be put in place to avoid the same conflict arising in the true, will have that discussion with the staff and all parties involved. Conflict resolution Successful negotiations pave the way for smooth relationships in the future. To find peaceful solutions to difficult situations. Full-blown battles use up resources time, energy, good reputation, motivation. By negotiating, you avoid wasting these resources, and you may actually make new allies and find new resources! When should you resolve conflict? Conflict resolution is appropriate for almost any disagreement. Our daily lives offer plenty of opportunities for negotiation – between parents and children, co-workers, friends, etc. And as a result, you probably already have a variety of effective strategies for resolving minor conflicts. But for more serious conflicts, and conflicts between groups rather than individuals, you may need some additional skills. How, for example, should you structure a meeting teens your group and your opponent? When should you settle, and when should you fight for more? How should you react if your opponent attacks you personally? Read on for mor e information on specific conflict resolution techniques. How should you resolve conflict?There are seven steps to successfully negotiating the resolution of a conflict: 1. Understand the conflict 2. Communicate with the opposition 3. Brainstorm possible resolutions 4. Choose the best resolution Use a third party mediator 5. 6. Explore alternatives 7. Cope with stressful situations and pressure tactics Understand the conflict Conflicts arise for a variety of different reasons. It is important for you to define clearly your own position and interests in the conflict, and to understand those of your opponent. Here are some questions to ask yourself so that you can better define the conflict.Inertest What are my interests? What do I really care about in this conflict? What do I want? What do I need? What are my concerns, hopes, fears? Possible Outcomes What kinds of agreements might we reach? Legitimacy What third party, outside of the conflict, might convince one or both of us that a proposed agreement is a fair one? What objective standard might convince s that an agreement is fair? For example: a law, an expert opinion, the market value of the transaction. Is there a precedent that would convince us that an agreement is fair? Their Interests What are the interests of my opposition?If were in their shoes, what would I really care about in this conflict? What do they want? What do they need? What are their concerns, hopes, fears? Interests play an important role in better understanding conflict. Often, groups waste time â€Å"bargaining over positions. † Instead of explaining what the interests of their position are, they argue about their â€Å"bottom line. † This is not useful way to negotiate, because it forces groups to stick to one narrow position. Once they are entrenched in a particular position, it will be embarrassing for them to abandon it.They may spend more effort on â€Å"saving face† than on actually finding a suitable resoluti on. It is usually more helpful to explore the group's interests, and then see what positions suit such interests. Example: Your parent group wants the high school to change its history textbook. You feel that the textbook doesn't represent the history of Africa adequately. You come to the School Committee and say, â€Å"The only textbook that works for us s The People of Jamaica, and that's final! † You have presented a position rather than your interests.By drawing a bottom line, you're stuck in one position. If you don ‘t convince the School Committee to choose this textbook, you'll lose. A more effective way to approach the School Committee would be to state your interests. You might say, â€Å"We're concerned about the under- representation of racial minorities in the current Jamaican history textbook, and would like to find an alternative. † By communicating your interests, rather than one position, you are leaving some room to negotiate while still Ewing fi rm and clear about your goals. Often, the same interest can have many positions.For example, the School Committee might vote to us plenty the history textbook with a packet of articles about minorities as well as other thing about minorities in Jamaica. These are different positions that address the same interest. Communicate with the opposition Now that you have thought through your own interests and those of the other party, you can begin to communicate directly with your opposition. Here are some tips for productive talks: Listen. Their opinions are important to you, because their Opinions are the source of your conflict. If something is important to them, you need to recognize this.Recognizing does not mean agreeing of course! Let everyone participate who wants to. People who participate will have a stake in a resolution. They will want to find a good compromise. Talk about your strong emotions. Let the other side let off steam. Don't, however, react to emotional outbursts! Try an apology instead of yelling back. Apologizing is not costly, and is often a rewarding technique. Be an active listener. Rephrase what you're hearing as a question: â€Å"Let me see if I'm following you. You're saying that†¦ Have got that right? † You can still be rim when you're listening. Speak about yourself, not the other party.In the textbook example, you might say, â€Å"l feel angry to know that my children are reading this old-fashioned textbook,† rather than, â€Å"How could you choose such a racist book? † Be concrete, but flexible. Speak about your interests, not about your position. Avoid early judgments. Keep asking questions and gathering information. Don't tell the opposition, â€Å"It's up to you to solve your problems. † Work to find a solution for everyone. Find a way to make their decision easy. Try to find a way for them to take your position without looking cake, but don't call it a way for them to â€Å"save face. Egos are imp ortant in negotiations! Brainstorm Possible Resolutions Now that you know what the interests of both parties are, and how to better communicate with the opposition, you can start thinking about solutions. Look at all of the interests you have listed, for you and for your opponents, and look for common interests. Often both parties share many interests for example, both groups may want stability and public respect. Before you hold a brainstorming meeting, think carefully about how you'll set up the meeting. Write a clear purpose statement for the meeting. Try to choose a small group of 5-8 people total.Hold the meeting in a different environment from your usual setting. Make sure the setting is an informal one where people feel comfortable and safe. Find an unbiased facilitator, someone who can structure the meeting without sharing his or her own feelings about the conflict. To begin brainstorming, decide whether you want to brainstorm with your opposition, or with only your group. I n either case, you will want to establish some ground rules. Work on coming up with as many ideas as possible. Don't judge or criticize the ideas yet that might prevent people room thinking creatively.Try to maximize (not minimize) your options. Look for win-win solutions, or compromises, in which both parties get something they want. Find a way to make their decision easy During the meeting, seat people side by side, facing the â€Å"problem†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a blank chalkboard or large pad of paper for writing down ideas. The facilitator will remind people of the purpose of the meeting review the ground rules, and ask participants to agree to those rules. During the brainstorming session, the facilitator will write down all ideas on the chalkboard or pad. Choose the best resolutionAfter the meeting, you will need to decide which resolution is best. Review your brainstorm ideas. Star the best ideas – these are whatnot will work With during the conflict resolution process. Set a time to discuss them and determine which idea is the best. The goal here is to use both groups' skills and resources to get the best result for everyone. Which resolution gives both groups the most? That resolution is probably the best one. Use a third party mediator As you are brainstorming and choosing a good resolution, you may want to use a third party mediator.This is a person who is not from your group or our opponent's group, but whom you both trust to be fair. Your mediator can help both sides agree upon a standard by which you'll judge your resolution. Standards are a way to measure your agreement. They include expert opinions, law, precedent (the way things have been done in the past), and accepted principles. For example, let's say you're building a new playground for your town's elementary school. You disagree with the superintendent about what kinds of materials you'll use to build the playground. The superintendent wants to use chemical-treated wood, but you feel it' s unsafe.A mediator might read the current guidelines of the lumber industry and tell you which kinds of wood are considered safe for children. Maybe you and the superintendent will agree to follow the lumber industry's advice-?in other words, to use that as the standard. Your mediator could also, for example, run your brainstorming session. Here are some other possible jobs for a mediator: Setting ground rules for you and your opponent to agree upon (for example, you might both agree not to publicly discuss the dispute) Creating an appropriate setting for meetings Suggesting possible ways to compromiseBeing an â€Å"ear† for both side's anger and fear Listening to both sides and explaining their positions to one another Finding the interests behind each side's positions Looking for win-win alternatives Keeping both parties focused, reasonable, and respectful Preventing any party from feeling that it's â€Å"losing face† Writing the draft of your agreement with the opp osition Perhaps Harriet is considering quitting her job because her boss wants to transfer her to another office.The mediator might say, â€Å"It sounds like Harriet doesn't care about transferring to the downtown office. What she's worried about is losing rank. Harriet, do you agree with that? Ms. Snell, do you understand Harrier's concern? How can we assure Harriet that she won't lose rank if she agrees to transfer? ‘ Explore alternatives There may be times when, despite your hard work and good will, you cannot find an acceptable resolution to your conflict. You need to think about this possibility before you begin negotiations.At what point will you decide to walk away from negotiations? What are your alternatives if you cannot reach an agreement with your opponent? It is important that you brainstorm your alternatives to resolution early on in the negotiation process, and that you always have your best alternative somewhere in the back of your mind. As you consider possib le agreements with your opponent, compare them to this â€Å"best† alternative. If you don't know what the alternative is, you'll be negotiating without all the necessary information!In order to come up with an alternative, start by brainstorming. Then, consider the pros and cons of each alternative. Think about which alternative is realistic and practical. Also think about how you can make it even better. At the same time, don't forget to put yourself in the shoes of your opposition. What alternatives might they have? Why might they choose them? What can you do to make your choice better than their alternative? Roger Fisher and Danny Retell call this alternative your BATAAN Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.You can read more about BAT AN in their book Getting Ready to Negotiate. Cope with stressful situations and pressure tactics So far, we've talked about how to negotiate with a fairly reasonable opponent. However, you need to be prepared to negotiate with all kind s of opponents, both reasonable and unreasonable. What if your opponent is more powerful and influential that you are? What if they refuse to meet or alkyl with you? All of these situations are stressful, and intended to put extra pressure on you to make a quick decision in the opposition ‘s favor.

Persuasive Communication Theory

Persuasive Communication Theory in Social Psychology: A Historical Perspective Icek Ajzen University of Massachusetts – Amherst From M. J. Manfredo (Ed) (1992). Influencing Human Behavior: Theory and Applications in Recreation and Tourism (pp 1– 27). Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 1 Few subjects in social psychology have attracted as much interest and attention as persuasive communication. One of the first topics to be systematically investigated, persuasion has been the focus of intense research efforts throughout much of social psychology's brief scientific history.Untold experiments have been conducted to unravel the intricate web of factors that appear to play a role in determining the effectiveness of a persuasive message. These attempts have revealed a degree of complexity that seems to defy explanation and that poses serious obstacles to theory construction. However, recent years have seen considerable progress at the the oretical level and a resurgence of empirical work has done much to invigorate the field and provide a better understanding of the fundamental psychological processes underlying persuasion.To appreciate the significance of these developments we must compare the emerging ideas and research findings with those from earlier efforts. The present chapter is designed to provide the required historical perspective. Since it aims to review developments in our understanding of the persuasion process, emphasis is placed on ideas and theories rather than on methodological or practical concerns; empirical research findings are summarized only in broad outline when needed to make a point of theoretical significance.The solution of problems created by recreation and tourism often involves persuasion in one form or another. As the chapters in the second part of this book illustrate, recreationists must be persuaded to observe rules of safety, to avoid conflicts with other visitors, and to keep thei r impact on the environment to a minimum. Although social psychologists have rarely tested their ideas in the context of recreation and tourism, the findings and conclusions discussed below have obvious implications for any attempt to influence beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in this domain.THE NATURE OF PERSUASION Persuasive communication involves the use of verbal messages to influence attitudes and behavior. Although the context of persuasion must necessarily be considered, the verbal message, designed to sway the hearts and minds of the receivers, is at the core of persuasive communication. Through a process of reasoning, the message exerts its influence by force of the arguments it contains. As we shall see below, this emphasis on reasoning sets persuasive communication apart from other social influence strategies.Structure of a Message As a general rule, a message consists of three parts: An advocated position, a set of general arguments in support of the advocated position, and specific factual evidence designed to bolster the general arguments (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). The advocated position may be a stand on a particular issue (e. g. , support for a tax increase) or a recommended action (e. g. , donating blood). The general arguments will typically supply reasons for adopting the advocated position, and justification for the arguments is provided in the form of factual evidence.Consider the question of instituting a senior comprehensive examination for undergraduate college students. Petty and Cacioppo (1986, pp. 54-59) published some examples of general arguments and supportive evidence they have used in their research program. Among the major arguments contained in Petty and Cacioppo's messages were the claims that instituting a comprehensive exam raises students' grade point averages and leads to improvement in the quality of undergraduate teaching. The factual evidence in support of the first argument was formulated as follows (pp. 4-55): The N ational Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a five-year study conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University. The results of the study showed that since the comprehensive exam has been introduced at Duke, the grade point average of undergraduates has increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exams, grades increased by only 8% over the same period. The prospect of a comprehensive exam clearly seems to be effective in challenging students to work harder and faculty to teach more effectively.It is likely that the benefits observed at Duke University could also Persuasive Communication Theory Page 2 be observed at other universities that adopt the exam policy. If accepted as valid, the factual evidence should result in acceptance of the argument that instituting a senior comprehensive exam will raise grade point averages, and acceptance of the argument in turn should increase the likelihood that receivers will endorse the po sition in favor of instituting a comprehensive exam, as advocated in the message.There is, of course, no assurance that receivers of a message will in fact accept the arguments and evidence it contains. On the contrary, identifying the factors and conditions that produce acceptance of information contained in a message is the major purpose of persuasion theory and research. Alternative Influence Strategies In order to develop a better understanding of the nature of persuasion, it is instructive to contrast persuasion with a few alternative influence strategies. The review offered here is far from exhaustive but it will help highlight some critical aspects of persuasive communication.Coercive Persuasion People can be induced to behave in a prescribed way by offering a sizable reward for compliance or by threatening severe punishment for noncompliance. This strategy of change can be very effective in producing the desired behavior, but its effectiveness is contingent on supervision (F rench and Raven, 1959) and has few lasting effects on beliefs or attitudes. Enduring attitude change by means of coercion is more likely in the context of total institutions, such as prisons, mental hospitals, or prisoner-of-war camps.Situations of this kind enable control over many aspects of an individual's life for an extended period of time. Even here, however, enduring attitude change is difficult to obtain and often fades after release from the institution (see Schein, 1961). Hypnosis and Subliminal Perception Instead of trying to overcome resistance to change by force of coercion, one can attempt to circumvent conscious opposition by means of hypnosis or presentation of subliminal messages. Posthypnotic induction can be used to instruct individuals upon awakening to engage in specified behaviors or to hold new attitudes (e. . , Rosenberg, 1956). There is, however, some question as to whether hypnosis actually represents an altered state of consciousness that can be used to ci rcumvent people's usual resistance to manipulation of their beliefs and actions (cf. Barber, 1965; Wagstaff, 1981). Use of subliminal perception to bring about change is similarly problematic. Its effectiveness depends on the presentation of information at an intensity level too low for conscious perception, yet high enough for it to enter unconscious or subconscious awareness.Clearly, such a fine balance demands careful calibration and, given individual differences in perceptual acuity, may not be achievable in a mass communication context. In any event, even when subliminal perception can be demonstrated, its effects on attitudes and behavior tend to be of rather small magnitude (cf. Erdelyi, 1974). Conditioning and Affect Transfer Another way of trying to avoid resistance to change involves the use of conditioning procedures. It has been argued that attitudes can be changed by means of classical conditioning (e. . , Staats and Staats, 1958) and that behavior can be influenced thr ough the systematic use of reinforcements in an instrumental conditional paradigm (e. g. , Krasner, 1958). Since the advantage of conditioning in comparison to direct persuasion rests on the assumed ability of conditioning to operate without awareness of the influence attempt, the extent to which individuals submitted to conditioning form hypotheses about systematic associations created in the conditioning paradigm is of crucial importance.Contrary to earlier claims, it now appears that there is no convincing evidence that adult human beings can be conditioned without awareness (cf. Brewer, 1974). An idea related to classical conditioning has emerged in the recent marketing literature where it has been proposed (Batra and Ray, 1986; Mitchell and Olson, 1981) that positive or negative affect elicited by one stimulus (the advertising) can transfer automatically to an associated stimulus (the advertised brand). This Persuasive Communication Theory Page 3 ffect transfer, however, is ass umed to occur only when individuals have no other, more informed basis, for evaluating the brand in question (Shimp, 1981). Moreover, given the results of research on conditioning in human beings, it can be assumed that affect transfer, if it occurs at all, occurs only in the presence of awareness of the contingencies involved. Subterfuge obvious heuristic in a persuasion context has to do with the communicator's credibility. The position advocated in a message may be accepted if the message comes from a highly credible source but rejected if the source is perceived to lack credibility.When using this rule of thumb, receivers accept or reject the advocated position or action without considering the merits of the arguments contained in the message. Conclusions Whereas the strategies discussed thus far all in one way or another try to prevent or neutralize awareness of, and thus resistance to, the influence attempt, the strategies considered here subtly manipulate the situation in ord er to promote a psychological state that leads people voluntarily to engage in the desired behavior.The foot-in-the-door technique (Freedman and Fraser, 1966) and other sales ploys are good examples of this approach. When using the footin-the-door technique, a small request SQ acceded to by most individuals SQ is followed by a much larger request. Due presumably to the commitment produced by agreeing to the small request, conformity with the large request tends to increase. An alternative strategy involves first confronting a person with an unreasonably large request and then appearing to compromise by offering compliance with a smaller request.In a highly readable book, Cialdini (1988) describes a number of ways in which subterfuge of this kind can be employed to elicit behaviors that might otherwise not be performed. Subterfuge strategies take advantage of people's various needs to reciprocate any favor received, to be liked by others, to be consistent, and so forth. Compliance is secured without the benefit of discussing the merits or costs of the requested action. Heuristics We have noted that change by means of persuasive communication is based on a careful deliberation of the pros and cons associated with an advocated position or ction. We shall see in subsequent sections, however, that receivers of a message sometimes make judgments about the advocated position without going through an elaborate reasoning process. Instead, they may rely on heuristics or rules of thumb to arrive at a conclusion (cf. Chaiken, 1980, 1987). The most Our discussion shows that social influence can operate in a variety of ways and that various strategies are available to take advantage of the different possibilities. Nevertheless, persuasive communication occupies a unique position in the matrix of social influence.Of all the available strategies it is the only one that appeals to reason, attempting to bring about change and compliance by convincing the individual of the valid ity or legitimacy of the advocated position. This tactic can be much more difficult than, say, coercion, but it also has important advantages. Besides being more compatible with democratic and humanistic values, persuasive communication can produce profound and lasting change, a goal not easily attained by other means. THE PERSUASION CONTEXT No message appears in a vacuum.At a minimum, we can usually identify the source of a message: an editor of a newspaper editorial, a lawyer pleading a client's case before a jury, or a movie star asking for donations to a charity. The communicator's identity, however, is only one of the many factors that constitute the context of persuasive communication. Classical analysis (Lasswell, 1948) has divided communication into several distinct aspects that can be summarized as who says what, how, and to whom. More formally these aspects are known as source, message, channel, and receiver factors; together, they constitute the context of 1 persuasion.So urce Factors Source factors are observed or inferred characteristics of the communicator. They include biological attributes such as age, race, height, and sex; behavioral features such as Persuasive Communication Theory Page 4 facial expressions, mannerisms, hand and body movements, and the way the communicator is dressed; social properties such as income, power, and social status; and personality traits such as self-confidence and extraversion. The most frequently studied source factors, however, are the communicator's credibility and attractiveness.Credibility refers to the perceived expertise and trustworthiness of the communicator. In other words, does the communicator have the knowledge to provide an informed opinion on the issue in question and, if so, can he or she be trusted to present all relevant information in an unbiased fashion? As noted earlier, persuasion is generally assumed to increase with credibility. It has similarly been proposed that the amount of change is in fluenced by the attractiveness or likability of the source, whether attractiveness is defined in terms of physical features or psychological and behavioral characteristics.Receiver Factors On the opposite end of the communication context, parallel to source factors, are characteristics of the receiver or audience to whom the message is addressed. These characteristics include the receivers' personality traits, sex, social status, intelligence, involvement, and so forth. Any attribute of the audience, or combination of attributes, may provide a context that contributes to the effectiveness of the message. Channel Factors The context of the message is also defined by the means used to communicate it.Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message (the general arguments and factual evidence) constant across channels, different modes of communication will often vary i n terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form.Thus, it may be difficult in some instances to determine whether differences in persuasion are due to variations in the communication channel or to associated contextual differences that may confound the observed effect. Message Factors Potential confounding of a more serious kind can occur in the case of message factors because variations message features are often accompanied by differences in content. Message factors concern the ways in which information is communicated to the audience.Among the factors that have been considered are the order in which arguments are presented, one- versus twosided presentations, and emotional versus nonemotional appeals (e. g. , humorous messages or messages that arouse fear versus neutral messages). To see why variations in message characteristics are often confounded with differences in message content, consider the case of one- versus two-sided communications. Clearly, to present both sides of an issue, an effective message must contain information and arguments not contained in a message that supports only the advocated position.In a twosided message, the communicator mentions arguments that could be used to support the opposite side and then proceeds to refute those arguments. In addition, of course, the communicator also discusses the arguments in favor of the position advocated in the message. Only this part is the same as or similar to the one-sided message. In the case of emotional versus neutral appeals, problems of confounding occur because humorous or fear-arousing communications generally contain information and arguments specifically designed to generate these emotions.It is thus difficult to separate the effects of fear or humor from the effects due to differences in the information contained in humorous versus nonhumorous messages or in high- versus lowfear messages. Situational Factors The persuasion context contains several situational variables that do not fit easily into the traditional framework of source, message, channel, and receiver factors. Among these situational variables are distraction and forewarning. Distraction can be the result of environmental noise, or it can be internal as when a person is preoccupied with other concerns.Forewarning refers to the availability Persuasive Communication Theory Page 5 of information before exposure to the message, which warns the receiver either that an influence attempt is imminent or that the communicator is planning to advocate a certain position. In either case, forewarning may prepare receivers to rally their defenses against the forthcoming message. The Hovland Tradition Scientific work on persuasive communication began in earnest during World War II in an attempt to determine the eff ects of war-time propaganda (Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield, 1949).This was followed by a period of intensive experimental research at Yale University in the 1950s under the direction of Carl Hovland (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953; Sherif and Hovland, 1961). Although it was extremely prolific and highly influential, the program of research initiated by the Hovland group produced very few generalizable conclusions. By the late 1960s, disappointment with this approach had become widespread (see Eagly and Himmelfarb, 1974; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In this section we review the major lines of work in the Hovland tradition and consider some of the reasons for its failure.Theoretical Orientation The empirical work of the Hovland group was guided by a loose theoretical analysis based on learning principles, and by a conceptual framework that incorporated context variables (source, message, channel, and receiver factors), target variables (immediate attitude change, retention, behav ior change), and mediating processes (attention, comprehension, and acceptance) (see McGuire, 1969, 1985). Very briefly, the theoretical analysis assumed that attitude change involves learning a new response to a given stimulus (the attitude object).Exposure to a persuasive message suggests the new response (the advocated position) and provides an opportunity to practice the response. The various contextual factors were assumed to facilitate learning by reinforcing and firmly embedding the new response in the receiver's response hierarchy. Empirical Research The conceptual framework of context, target, and mediating variables served to organize thinking about the persuasion process. However, much of the empirical research in the Hovland tradition dealt primarily with the impact of contextual factors.Thus, in the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of studies were conducted to examine the effects of source credibility and attractiveness; receiver intelligence, self-esteem, and involvement; fea r appeals and order of presentation; distraction and forewarning; and a multitude of other contextual variables (see McGuire, 1985 for a recent review). Little attention was devoted to the dependent variable that serves as the target of the communication, although persistence of change over time was an early concern (see Cook and Flay, 1978). Of the mediating variables, only attention and comprehension were directly assessed.Thus, many studies contained a recall or recognition test to measure the degree to which the message was â€Å"received† (McGuire, 1968), that is, the degree to which the message was attended to and comprehended. Generally speaking, the purpose of the test was to make sure that reception did not vary across conditions of the experiment, and that whatever effects were observed could not be attributed to differences in reception. In other words, the goal was usually to rid the experiment of the mediating effect of reception, rather than to study reception i n its own right.Note also that the conceptual framework had little to say about the content of persuasive communication and what its role in the persuasion process might be. Message content was treated largely as a given, while the questions addressed had to do with the effects of contextual factors on the amount of change produced by the message in question. We shall see below that this approach to the study of persuasive communication was one of the major reasons for the failure of the Hovland tradition. Effects of source factors.One of the first lines of research initiated by the Hovland group dealt with the effects of communicator credibility (Hovland and Weiss, 1951), and innumerable studies since have manipulated this variable. Of all the contextual factors studied in the Hovland tradition, variations in source credibility have produced the most consistent findings. By and large, communicators high in expertise and trustworthiness tend to be more persuasive than communicators with low standing on these factors. However, even here, somePersuasive Communication Theory Page 6 contradictory evidence has been reported. Source credibility does not always increase the amount of change, and in some situations it can even have a negative effect (cf. McGuire, 1985, p. 263). Other source characteristics are generally found to have no simple or easily predictable effects on persuasion. The communicator's attractiveness, education, intelligence, social status, and so on can serve as cues for inferring expertise and can thus affect persuasion.However, these indirect effects do not appear to be strong enough to produce consistent results across different investigations. Effects of receiver factors. Age, gender, intelligence, self-esteem and other individual differences among receivers are rarely found to have strong effects on persuasion, and the results of different investigations are often inconsistent. Moreover, receiver factors are found to interact in complex ways with each other and with additional factors such as the complexity of the message, the type of arguments used, the credibility of the communicator, and so on.Effects of channel factors. A rather discouraging picture also emerged with respect to the effects of the medium of communication. While visual messages tend to be better liked and attended to than spoken or written messages, recall is sometimes better for written material, and adding pictures to print can be distracting (see McGuire, 1985, p. 283). In light of these contradictory effects, it is hardly surprising that empirical research on channel factors has produced largely inconsistent results.Effects of message factors. Some of the most complex patterns of findings are associated with message factors such as emotional versus nonemotional appeals, message style, and ordering of message content. With respect to the latter, consider for example whether one should state the message's basic position at the outset or at the end. Stating it at the beginning may have the advantage of clarity, making the source appear more trustworthy, and of attracting the attention of receivers sympathetic to the advocated position.It can also have the disadvantage, however, of lowering interest and antagonizing receivers initially opposed to the advocated position (McGuire, 1985). Other message factors can have equally complicated effects. To illustrate, consider the degree to which the message arouses fear or concern. Contrary to expectations, initial research (Janis and Feshbach, 1953) showed a low-fear message to be more effective than a high-fear message in producing compliance with recommended dental practices.Later research, however, has often found the opposite effect, and many investigations have reported no differences between high- and low-fear messages (for reviews, see Boster and Mongeau, 1985 and Higbee, 1969). Similarly inconsistent findings have emerged with respect to the effects of humor in persuasive comm unication (see Markiewicz, 1974). Retrospective In light of largely inconsistent research findings concerning the effects of contextual variables, many investigators became discouraged with the Hovland approach.Thus, after editing a book on attitude change in 1974, Himmelfarb and Eagly reached the following pessimistic conclusions: After several decades of research, there are few simple and direct empirical generalizations that can be made concerning how to change attitudes. In fact, one of the most salient features of recent research is the great number of studies demonstrating that the empirical generalizations of earlier research are not general, but contingent on conditions not originally apparent. (Himmelfarb and Eagly, 1974, p. 94. ) In fact, the complexity of the persuasion process noted by Himmelfarb and Eagly in their reference to contingencies has been a favorite explanation for the failure of the Hovland approach. This explanation holds that persuasion is influenced by so many different factors interacting with each other that only complicated, multidimensional research strategies can cope with the complexities. However, when investigators have studied higher-order interactions, no clear or replicable patterns have emerged.Indeed, there is serious doubt that the search for complicated interactions can ever be a viable strategy (cf. Cronbach, 1975; Nisbett, 1977). The role of the receiver. Besides failing to advance our understanding of the persuasion process, the complexity explanation had the Persuasive Communication Theory Page 7 unfortunate effect of hiding the basic shortcomings of the Hovland tradition and thus delaying the search for alternatives. As is usually the case, realizing where this approach went wrong is much easier in retrospect than it was at the time.Perhaps without meaning to, the Hovland group cast the receiver in a rather passive role whose task was to â€Å"learn† the information and recommended position presented in a message. Attention and comprehension would assure that the information was absorbed, and persuasion would thus follow automatically. This view of the receiver stands in clear contradiction to much that is known about information processing. People are far from passive receivers of information.Instead, they usually act on the information that is available, integrating it (Anderson, 1971), constructing interpretations of their own (Neisser, 1976), and going in many ways beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). This is just as true in the domain of attitudes as it is in other areas of information processing. For example, research on impression formation has shown that people draw far-ranging inferences about the attributes of another person on the basis of very limited information (Asch, 1946; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Wiggins, 1973).Such inferences are often said to rely on â€Å"implicit theories of personality† (Schneider, 1973) which might suggest, among other things, th at if a person is said to be hostile, he is also likely to be rash, aggressive, and inconsiderate. Several other lines of research demonstrate more directly the potential importance of inference processes in persuasive communication. Thus it has been shown that a persuasive communication designed to produce a change in one belief will also lead to changes in other, related, beliefs (McGuire, 1960a; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970).It is even possible to produce change by merely making people aware of inconsistencies among their beliefs or values (McGuire, 1960b; Rokeach, 1971) in a process McGuire has termed the â€Å"Socratic† effect: After reviewing their beliefs, people tend to change some of them in the direction of increased logical consistency. In short, there is every reason to expect that receivers exposed to a persuasive communication may engage in an active process of deliberation that involves reviewing the information presented, accepting some rguments, rejecting others, and drawing inferences about issues addressed that go beyond what was mentioned in the original message. The image of the passive learner fostered in the Hovland tradition is thus highly misleading, and misses the most important aspect of persuasive communication: the receiver's capacity for reasoning and for being swayed by the merits of a well-presented argument. Persuasion by the Peripheral Route The passive-learner view of the receiver implicit in the Hovland approach quite naturally led to a focus on the persuasion context.If the communicator's task is to make sure that receivers learn and absorb the contents of the message, concern turns to a search for conditions that facilitate attention to the message and comprehension of its arguments, with a concomitant lessening of interest in what the receiver does with the information that is received. Ironically, recent theory and research have established the potential importance of contextual factors, at least under certain wellspec ified conditions. Once we realize what these conditions are, we can begin to understand the reasons for the inconsistent findings of research conducted within the Hovland paradigm.In the previous section we emphasized the active role of the receiver who may engage in an elaborate process of reasoning about the merits of the arguments presented in the message. This view assumes, first, that receivers are in fact sufficiently motivated to exert the required cognitive effort and, second, that they have the ability to carefully process the incoming information. It now appears that contextual factors influence persuasion only when one or both of these conditions are not met (Chaiken, 1980; Petty and Cacioppo, 1981, 1986).Motivation to process the message and elaborate on it is largely a matter of the receiver's involvement. Different aspects of the self may be activated in a given situation, depending largely on the issue addressed, and as a result, different kinds of involvement can be generated. Specifically, the message may create involvement by dealing with receivers' enduring values, with receivers' ability to obtain desirable outcomes or avoid undesirable outcomes, or with the impression receivers make on others Persuasive Communication Theory Page 8 (Johnson and Eagly, 1989).However, when the message has few implications for enduring values, for important outcomes, or for selfpresentation, it produces little motivation to carefully deliberate its contents. Ability to process a message is related to factors internal to the receiver as well as to external factors. Among the internal factors are familiarity with the issues and cognitive ability and intelligence, factors that tend to increase capacity for information processing; and preoccupation with other matters and lack of time, which tend to reduce the ability to elaborate.External factors that increase the ability to process include message repetition and clarity of presentation, while external distraction and use of complicated language can reduce processing ability. Some of the contextual factors studied by the Hovland group can come into play when internal or external factors lower the receiver's ability to process the information presented in the message. Empirical Research When ability and motivation to process the message are low, receivers can use peripheral cues (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) or cognitive heuristics (Chaiken, 1980) to form their opinions.Chaiken assumed that receivers of a message, even if they are not very greatly involved, nevertheless are motivated to hold a â€Å"correct† view on the issue. Since, under conditions of low motivation and ability, receivers are either incapable or unwilling to deal with the merits of the advocated position, they look for contextual or peripheral cues that might provide a basis for forming an opinion. Perhaps the most powerful such cue is the communicator's credibility, and it may be argued that this is the reason for the relatively consistent findings associated with communicator credibility.The heuristic strategy might in this case involve the following line of reasoning: â€Å"If this expert on the matter says so, it must be right. † This heuristic appears quite reasonable in that it accepts the position advocated by a credible source, even if one has not carefully scrutinized the arguments presented. Receivers can also use the source's attractiveness, or factors related to the message such as the number of arguments it contains, as peripheral cues. Thus, a message coming from a iked source might be viewed as more trustworthy, and one that contains many arguments (even if specious) might be seen as more reliable than a message that contains few arguments. Note, however, that these rules of thumb are far less convincing as a rational basis for accepting or rejecting an advocated position, and it is perhaps for this reason that factors of this kind often fail to have strong or consistent effe cts on persuasion. In any event, relying on heuristics obviates the need for careful message processing, and at the same time provides a basis for adoption of a position on the issue.Recent empirical research tends to support this view of the peripheral route to persuasion, although some complications have recently been noted (Johnson and Eagly, in press). Since excellent reviews are available elsewhere (Chaiken, 1987; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), we limit our discussion here to an example concerning the effects of source characteristics. Recall that communicator attractiveness was one of the source characteristics studied in the Hovland paradigm that did not have a clear and consistent effect on persuasion.If treated as a peripheral cue used only when processing motivation or ability is low, more consistent findings tend to emerge. Attractiveness of the source has been varied by attributing the message to famous versus unknown individuals (Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann, 1983) or to a likable versus an unlikable person (Chaiken, 1980). The investigators also manipulated the degree of involvement and found, as expected, that communicator attractiveness has a significantly greater effect on persuasion under low than under high involvement.Conclusions Work on the peripheral route to persuasion suggests that the source, message, channel, and receiver factors studied in the Hovland tradition can indeed influence the effectiveness of a message, but that this is likely to be the case only under conditions of low motivation or low ability to process the message. Such conditions can be obtained in the psychological laboratory that ensures some degree of attention by a captive audience even if the receivers have little interest in the topic or lack the ability to process the information presented (Hovland, 1959).In more naturalistic field settings, receivers who Persuasive Communication Theory Page 9 lack the motivation or ability to process a message can usually leave th e situation, while those who remain and are exposed to the message will tend to be sufficiently involved and able to process the information it contains. Persuasion by the peripheral route is clearly an inappropriate model for many realistic situations, and it is often inapplicable even in the artificial context of the laboratory.REASONING AND PERSUASION Even when it works, there is something distinctly unsatisfactory in the demonstration of change via the peripheral route, because the change brought about does not represent persuasion as we usually think of it. We noted at the beginning that it is the process of reasoning, the evaluation of the merits of arguments in favor and opposed to the advocated position, that is at the heart of persuasive communication. Persuasion involves more than simply oing along with an expressed point of view because of the presence of some peripheral cue; it requires that the advocated position be accepted only after careful scrutiny of the message an d after application of whatever other information the receiver can bring to bear. Moreover, change produced by the peripheral route is generally of little practical significance. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) noted that peripheral attitude change tends to be shortlived, tends to be susceptible to counterpropaganda (McGuire, 1964), and tends to have little effect on actual behavior.Clearly then, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view it would be to our advantage to focus less on the context of persuasion and more on the central processes that occur when a person is exposed to a message. Persuasion by the Central Route In the remainder of this chapter we examine persuasion that occurs when the receiver of a message is sufficiently able and motivated to give at least some scrutiny to the contents of the communication and to evaluate the merits of the arguments it contains.This has been termed the central route to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981) and the deliberations re ceivers perform are known as systematic information processing (Chaiken, 1980). Instead of asking what makes a given message more effective, we must now ask how to construct an effective message. That is, what arguments, when systematically processed via the central route, will have the greatest impact on the receiver's attitudes and behavior? Before we can review what is known about this question, however, we must consider the role of the receiver in greater detail. The Elaboration Likelihood Model.The peripheral route to persuasion discussed earlier is one of two tracks a receiver can take in Petty and Cacioppo's (1981, 1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The second track is persuasion via the central route. According to the ELM, central route persuasion depends on and is determined by the degree to which receivers elaborate on the information presented in the message. Briefly, during exposure to a persuasive communication, receivers are assumed to generate arguments of thei r own, either in support of the advocated position (pro arguments) or opposed to it (con arguments).These cognitive responses determine the direction and degree of change in attitudes and behavior. Increased motivation and ability to process the information in the message is, according to the model, associated with an increase in the number of cognitive responses (pro and con arguments) generated. To the extent that the number of arguments generated on the pro side exceeds the number of arguments on the con side, the receiver will change in the advocated direction. When elaboration leads to the production of more con than pro arguments, however, either no change or a â€Å"boomerang effect† (change in the opposite direction) may occur.From the communicator's point of view, therefore, motivation and ability to elaborate on message content is a two-edged sword. If, on balance, the thoughts generated by the receiver favor the advocated position, then the central route to persuas ion works to the communicator's advantage. On the other hand, if the receiver's cognitive responses consist predominantly of counterarguments, then elaboration on message content can be quite detrimental to the communicator's purpose.A number of studies, summarized in Petty and Cacioppo (1986), have examined the role of cognitive responses in the persuasion process. In these studies, cognitive responses are elicited Persuasive Communication Theory Page 10 in a free-response format following exposure to the message. The thoughts listed by the receivers are coded as either in favor or opposed to the advocated position, and the number of responses of each type is determined. Results, by and large, support the idea that the production of cognitive responses increases with motivation and ability to elaborate.Moreover, it is also found that changes in attitudes and behavior are consistent with the pattern of cognitive responses that are generated: a balance of thoughts in favor of the adv ocated position tends to be associated with change in the desired direction. 2 Yielding and Impact. Consideration of cognitive responses generated by receivers in the course of exposure to the message is, however, not sufficient to account for observed changes in attitudes and behavior. For change to occur in the central mode, some of the receiver's fundamental beliefs and values must undergo modification.Elaboration on the message may in fact lead to changes in cognitive structure, but evidence for the production of pro- or counter-arguments does not, in itself, assure that such changes have indeed taken place. Work on the elaboration likelihood model has focused primarily on cognitive responses to the message and has not dealt directly with changes in cognitive structure. The ideas discussed below are based on other recent work concerning persuasive communication via the central route (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, 1981).According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a message can bring about chang es in a receiver's cognitive structure in one of two ways. First, in a process termed yielding, acceptance of arguments presented in the message can produce changes in corresponding beliefs held by the receiver. Consider, for example, a pregnant smoker who initially is not aware that cigarette smoking can adversely affect the health of her unborn baby. This woman is now exposed to a message containing an argument and supportive evidence that establish the link between smoking and adverse health effects on the fetus.To the extent that the argument is accepted, it produces yielding in the sense that the woman's cognitive structure now contains a new belief that corresponds directly to the argument in question. That is, she now believes, as stated in the message, that smoking may have ill effects on her unborn baby. Changes in a receiver's primary beliefs, however, can extend far beyond the information directly contained in the message. Such changes that go beyond the information given are termed impact effects.To illustrate, the pregnant woman exposed to the message that smoking can have detrimental health effects on her fetus may infer that she would feel guilty if she did not stop smoking and that her doctor would want her to quit, even though neither argument was explicit in the message. It is also possible, however, for her to draw inferences that would work against the aims of the communicator. For example, the woman may unexpectedly form the belief that quitting would be even worse than continued smoking because it would result in overeating.These impact effects can, of course, play a major role in the woman's decision to quit or not to quit smoking. Evidence for the importance of considering yielding as well as impact effects can be found in a study on drinking reported in Ajzen and Fishbein (1980, pp. 218-242). Persuasive Argumentation The challenge facing a communicator trying to produce change via the central route is to create a message that will orig inate favorable responses, produce yielding to its arguments, and generate impact effects in accordance with the advocated change.Arguments contained in a message can be considered effective to the extent that they influence the receiver's cognitive structure. The essential question, therefore, is what makes an argument effective. In light of the fact that rhetoricians have written about argumentation for over 2,000 years, it is surprising how little empirical knowledge is available about the relative effectiveness of different types of arguments (McGuire, 1985). An analysis of this problem reveals at least three important aspects of an argument's effectiveness: novelty, strength, and relevance.Below we discuss each of these aspects in turn. Argument Novelty Persuasive Communication Theory Page 11 An argument contained in a message may well be accepted (i. e. , believed to be true), but if the receiver already held the belief in question before exposure to the message, no change in belief structure would result (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). To be effective therefore, an argument contained in a message must not be part of the receiver's initial belief system. Some empirical evidence for this proposition can be found in research on group decision making (Vinokur and Burnstein, 1974).In the course of group discussions, members who offer novel arguments in support of a given decision alternative are found to be more influential than members who raise points that are well known to the rest of the group. Argument Strength Besides being novel, an argument must also be strong if it is to sway the receiver to adopt the advocated position. A strong argument is one that tends to produce agreement (positive thoughts) and does not encourage generation of many counterarguments (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Although it is not clear what makes a strong argument, its strength or weakness can be empirically established.Earlier in this chapter we gave an illustrative example of a pe rsuasive argument taken from Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) research program. The argument asserted that instituting a senior comprehensive examination would raise grade point averages (see p. xx). This argument and the associated evidence make a strong case for the advocated position. Compare this to the following argument, also designed to generate support for a comprehensive exam. The National Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a study they conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University.One major finding was that student anxiety had increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exam, anxiety increased by only 8%. The Board reasoned that anxiety over the exams, or fear of failure, would motivate students to study more in their courses while they were taking them. It is likely that this increase in anxiety observed at Duke University would also be observed and be of benefit at other universities that adopt the exam policy (Pe tty and Cacioppo, 1986, p. 57). Although this argument is quite similar in structure to the strong argument presented earlier, it appears to present a much weaker case.In fact, this argument is typically found to generate many counterarguments. Clearly, in order to create an effective message, it is in the communicator's interest to select strong arguments and avoid including arguments that tend to elicit negative thoughts about the advocated position. Argument Relevance Related to the question of an argument's strength is its relevance to the advocated position. An argument may be strong in the sense that it generates few counterarguments and many pro arguments, but if it addresses an issue that is not directly relevant to the advocated position, it may fail to produce the desired effect.This point is often not sufficiently appreciated. Suppose a communicator would like to convince students to attend an anti-apartheid demonstration in Washington, D. C. , and thus exposes the studen ts to a persuasive message against apartheid in South Africa. Although the arguments contained in the message may be strong in the sense that they are believable and generate few counterarguments, the message may not be very effective as a means of inducing students to go to Washington.To make the message more relevant in terms of this goal, one would have to include strong arguments that deal more directly with the advantages of attending the planned demonstration. A relevant argument, then, is one that changes those primary beliefs of the receiver that are directly related to the target of the influence attempt, that is, to the attitude or behavior the communicator wishes to affect. Different target variables are based on different primary beliefs, and an effective message must be tailored to fit the target in question.General discussions of different target variables and their respective foundations of primary beliefs can be found in Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, 1981) and in Fishbei n and Manfredo (Chapter xx, this volume). It is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an in-depth review. Briefly, Fishbein and Ajzen distinguish Persuasive Communication Theory Page 12 among beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors as possible targets of a persuasive communication. To effect a change in any one of these target variables, the message arguments must be directed at the primary beliefs that provide the basis for the target in question.The first step in the construction of a message, therefore, requires a decision about the relevant primary beliefs, a process that cannot be left to intuition but must be guided by a model of the target's determinants. Social psychologists have discussed a variety of approaches to understanding beliefs and attitudes and their relations to behavior, but perhaps the most popular models can be found within the framework of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and its recent extension, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988).The discussion below considers each target variable in turn; however, a full understanding of the process is gained only by considering the relations among the different variables. Changing behavior. According to the theory of reasoned action, many behaviors of interest to social psychologists are under volitional control and, hence, are in an immediate sense determined by the intention to perform the behavior in question. A successful persuasive communication designed to change a certain behavior must therefore contain arguments that will bring about a change in the antecedent intention. The theory of planned behavior oes beyond the question of intended action, taking into account the possibility that the behavior of interest may not be completely under volitional control. To be successful, the message may have to provide information that will enable the receiver to gain volitional control and overcome potential obstacles to perfor mance of the behavior. A review of evidence in support of these propositions can be found in Ajzen (1988). Changing intentions. The antecedents of behavioral intentions are, according to the theory of reasoned action, the person's attitude toward the behavior and his or her subjective norm.The attitude toward the behavior refers to the evaluation of the behavior as desirable or undesirable, and the subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior in question. The theory of planned behavior again adds to this model a consideration of volitional control. When issues of control arise, intentions are influenced not only by attitudes and subjective norms but also by perceived behavioral control (Ajzen and Madden, 1986; Schifter and Ajzen, 1985).A persuasive communication designed to influence intentions (and thus also behavior) can be directed at one or more of the intention's three determinants: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavio ral control. Changing attitudes. We arrive at the level of primary beliefs as we consider the determinants of a person's attitudes. According to the theory of reasoned action, attitudes are a function of salient beliefs about the attitude object (a person, group, institution, behavior or other event). Each salient belief links the object to an attribute or to an outcome in the case of a behavior.The attitude is determined by the strength of these beliefs and by the evaluations associated with the attributes (Fishbein, 1963; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Beliefs about the attitude object that are salient prior to presentation of the message can be elicited in a free-response format. The message is then constructed such that it will either change some of the existing beliefs, either in their strength or their evaluations, or introduce new beliefs into the belief system. Changing beliefs. To change a specific belief on an issue, the persuasive communication has to address some of the info rmation on which the belief is based.Several probabilistic models that link prior information to a given belief have been proposed and validated (McGuire, 1960b; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970; for a review see Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 1977). These models suggest that the information introduced by the persuasive communication must be information from which the belief in question can be probabilistically inferred. Conclusions The focus in recent years on the central route to persuasion holds great promise for a better understanding of persuasive communication.This route deals with the essence of the persuasion process, with changes in the fundamental beliefs on which the receivers' attitudes and actions are based. Although much remains to be done, social psychologists have gained considerable insight into some of the cognitive processes that are at work during and Persuasive Communication Theory Page 13 after exposure to a persuasive communication, and into the practical aspects of constructing an effective message. SUMMARY This chapter provided a brief historical perspective on persuasive communication theory in social psychology.No attempt was made to discuss all theoretical developments in detail as this task would require a book in itself. Instead, the focus was on a few dominant lines of theoretical development, from the beginnings of scientific research on persuasion in the 1940s to the present day. The work initiated by Hovland and his associates tended to view the receivers of a persuasive communication as passively learning the information presented and then changing their beliefs and attitudes accordingly. This view led to a concern with contextual factors, and virtual neglect of the contents of the communication and its processing by the receiver.Few generalizable conclusions emerged from the research guided by this approach, and by the late 1960s the failure of the Hovland approach was widely acknowledged. Progress was recorded when attention t urned from contextual or peripheral factors to persuasion via the central route. Contextual factors were found to be important only under conditions of low involvement or low ability to process the message. It was discovered, however, as a general rule, that receivers of a message are far from passive, engaging in an active process of analyzing and elaborating on the information presented.It became clear that the effects of a persuasive communication could not be understood unless careful attention was given to these cognitive processes. Theoretical and empirical developments of the past two decades have enabled us to consider receivers' cognitive responses during exposure to a message, yielding to the arguments contained in the message, and the message's impact on other beliefs not explicitly mentioned. These developments have also resulted in a much closer examination of the contents of persuasive communications, with an eye toward selecting arguments that will have the maximum ef fect on the target of the influence attempt.In this way, the theoretical developments of recent years have important implications for the practitioner who is concerned with constructing effective persuasive communications. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 14 REFERENCES Ajzen, I. 1985. From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In: J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann, eds. Action-control: From cognition to behavior. Heidelberg: Springer: 11-39. Ajzen, I. 1988. Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Chicago: Dorsey Press. Ajzen, I. , & Fishbein, M. 1980. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Ajzen, I. & Madden, T. J. 1986. Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. 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