CP Chapter 10: A New Framework for Resistance to Persuasion

What is resistance to persuasion?

The act or process of defending one's attitude against persuasive attack

What is Brehm's (1966) reactance theory?

This theory postulates that people resist persuasion when they perceive that a persuasive message threatens or encroaches upon their personal freedom.

stopped at page

215

What kinds of strategies are included in the process of resistance?

Counterarguing persuasive messages Bolstering initial attitudes Derogating message sources Engaging in biased processing of or selective exposure to attitude congruent vs incongruent information Sticking with initial attitudes in a cue-based fashion

What are 2 commonly considered motivations to resist persuasion?

1) the motivation to maintain consistency (ex: cognitive dissonance theory, balance theory) 2) the motivation to resist persuasion to maintain independent views of themselves (ex:reactance theory)

What is cognitive dissonance theory?

Festinger, 1957 suggests that people aim to resist attitude change when such change will produce incongruent, or conflicting cognitions. argument is that if one changes one's attitude toward something, he or she will be faced with an aversive state of tension resulting from simultaneously holding one attitude (the new one) and a series of other cognitions (e.g. old thoughts, old beliefs, knowledge of past behavior) that conflict with that attitude. To avoid this aversive state of dissonance, people strive to resist persuasion.

What is the process of resistance?

The strategies people use to resist persuasion. These may vary in the level of cognitive effort they require, but they are all functional in helping people defend their attitudes against persuasive attacks.

What is balance theory?

Heider, 1958 Theory that emphasizes people's desire to avoid cognitive inconsistency as a motivation for resistance. According to this theory, people resist attitude change when such change risks creating imbalanced attitude systems (when change risks placing people at odds with liked others or in agreement with disliked others). This motivation to avoid imbalance can foster resistance to persuasion.

What is forewarning?

When people are warned of an impending persuasive attack, a variety of motives can be induced which differentially affect the manner in which people respond to the attack. For instance, when people receive warnings on important or highly involving issues, especially if those warnings indicate the communicator's position, defensive motivations can lead people to engage in elaborative and biased processing in support of their attitudes or against the opposing position (ex: anticipatory counter-arguing). When people receive warnings that indicate a communicator's persuasive intent, even without revealing the communicator's position, reactance motivations can result, leading people to resist with minimal effort simply to preserve their sense of personal freedom.

Some research on forewarning has revealed that when people (do/do not) care deeply about a topic or issue, persuasive warnings can sometimes spark impression management motives that lead people to change their attitudes to be more moderate or to agree with the communicator's presumed position.

do not