![]() ![]() Why Influence? Everyday Modern Definitions Ethics I Ethics II Disciplines Approach Bad Info Structure Mindfulness Mindlessness 6 Principles Matrix Cults I Cults II Cults III Framing I Framing II Framing III Framing IV Framing V Framing VI Framing VII Framing VIII Bibliography Classwork Links |
You, the reader, may be an influence expert. You may work in politics, advertising, sales, law, or any number of other careers that require you to persuade people in the course of your daily life. You may be very successful, too. If so, you have an intuitive feel for what moves people. And you probably enjoy thinking about how persuasion works.
During the weeks before the vote, attorneys were volunteering to speak to just about any group of people who would lend them an ear. I happened to hear a lawyer addressing a room full of physicians, explaining why no fault insurance was a bad idea. He looked sharp, and he spoke rapidly and authoritatively. Let's assume this lawyer was a successful influence agent, and that he was also interested in the process of persuasion. Now, let's listen in on his thoughts as he walks out of the lecture hall:
Our lawyer friend is asking the right questions, but coming to exactly the wrong conclusions. He is guessing that rapid speech makes one sound credible. That's a plausible hypothesis. Someone who knows what he's talking about would be able to speak rapidly, whereas an inexpert speaker would have to hunt for words and concepts. What he doesn't know, however--what he can't know--is that there are several variables in this scenario interacting with each other that are making the relationship between his advocacy and persuasion a complex one. Speaking rapidly can both enhance and detract from persuasion, depending on the situation. Speaking rapidly interferes with critical acceptance, which is good if you have a weak argument, but bad if you have a strong one. As the lawyer develops his talk, and uses stronger arguments, he needs to speak more slowly--giving his audience a chance to cognitively process his arguments.
Back to our original question: what does social psychology know that isn't already known by those who use persuasion and compliance tactics on a daily basis? Why doesn't one learn the general principles of social influence in business, advertising, or law? Because the goals of social psychology are different. Social psychology attempts to generate general answers and propose fundamental laws about how the human "hardware" functions, to borrow a term from computer science. It wouldn't ask, "What can we say to make people decide to buy a car?" but rather, "What makes people decide to say yes to all sorts of requests--to buy a car, to contribute to a cause, to take a new job?" Then, as a science, social psychology puts its hypotheses to the test. The result is a body of knowledge that contains a constellation of repeatable, verifiable facts regarding human thought and behavior--and how those thoughts and behaviors may be changed. Unfortunately, many of what I call "persuasion peddlers" have no scientific background and no systematic training in, or understanding of, how influence may be systematically applied (although many of them are savvy enough to make themselves sound scientific). And this leads to our next topic, Bad Information.
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