PUR 4000: Exam 2 (pt.2)
How do you influence public opinion?
- convince people of something - help them see the opinion is shared - motivate them to be vocal
What are the three goals of communication?
1. Informing 2. Persuading 3. Instructing
~ Three PR problems the states of consensus identify:
1. an organization and a public have different definitions of an issue 2. the organizations perception of the public's view on an issue isn't accurate 3. the public's perception of an organization's view on an issue isn't accurate Agreement isn't the issue! You need communication to create shared definitions and accuracy!
What are the steps of informing?
1. attracting attention (ex. when a commercial is louder than the show) 2. achieving acceptance 3. having it interpreted as intended 4. getting it stored for later use
What are the five characteristics of opinion?
1. direction 2. intensity 3. stability 4. informational support 5. social support
What step does persuading add?
5. accepting change/yielding
What step does instructing add?
6. stimulating active learning and practice
What is an attitude?
A behavioral inclination, a predisposition to act a certain way in a variety of situations
What is an opinion?
A judgement expressed about a particular situation?
What is communication?
A reciprocal process of exchanging signals to inform, persuade or instruct. Communication needs feedback.
What is persuasion?
A two-way communication. It is listening and identifying common interests and promotion mutually beneficial actions.
What does intERpersonal measure?
Accuracy, Agreement and Understanding.
What does intRApersonal measure?
Congruency. Example: whether or not Sara's opinion and what she assumes Joe's opinion to be will match.
What is direction?
Every opinion has a direction.
What is informational support?
How much knowledge or data people have on this issue.
What is intensity?
How strongly you feel on the issue.
What is pertinence?
How valuable something is in comparison to other things.
What is the passive communication behavior?
Information processes. May or may not pay attention to messages because they aren't seeking them.
What is the active communication behavior?
Information seeking. Likely to seek info on the issue and bring said issue up in conversation.
What is stability?
It looks at how long the public has held the same direction and intensity. * We have to measure at more than one point in time.
What is understanding?
It measures the similarities in the definitions the two individuals are using.
What are the three forms of persuasion according to Aristotle?
Logos - appeal to reason Pathos - appeal to emotion Ethos - appeal based on personality or character
What is salience?
Our feelings based on past experience.
What is selective retention?
People more accurately remember messages that are closer to their interests, values and beliefs, than those that are in contrast with their values and beliefs, selecting what to keep in the memory.
What are Individual Orientations?
Public opinion does not exist until we have individuals forming opinions. Our perceptions of things in our environment.
What is intERpersonal?
Something between you and another person.
What is the Spiral of Silence Theory?
The "silent majority". People who think their opinions aren't popular tend to remain silent. Lesson: public opinion is created when we perceive support for our views.
What is agreement?
The extent to which Sara and Joe do or do not feel the same way.
What is accuracy?
The extent to which our estimate of how the other person feels matched their actual views.
What is social support?
The extent to which we think our opinions are shared with our peer groups.
What is dissemination?
The providing of information. Dissemination cannot influence public opinion.
What is selective perception?
The tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that causes emotional discomfort and contradicts our prior beliefs. For example, a teacher may have a favorite student because they are biased by in-group favoritism.
What is intRApersonal?
Things that happen inside of your own head.
What is cooerientation?
Two or more individuals oriented to something in common and also to each other.
What is cognitive dissonance?
We AVOID info that conflicts with our beliefs. We seek out info to REINFORCE those beliefs and we will notice them.
Our assessment of salience and pertinence creates _________ and ________
attitudes and opinions
You don't have to ______ attitude to ______ behavior!
change
Low agreement and low congruency =
dissensus
Low agreement and high congruency =
false consensus
It is easier to ____ public opinion than it is to ______ it!
form/change
If Sara assumed Joe would say no and he actually said no it is:
high accuracy
If Sara and Joe both feel like they should take their relationship a step further it is:
high agreement
If Sara assumes her and Joe's opinion are the same it is:
high congruency
If Sara and Joe have the same definition of taking their relationship to the next level it is:
high understanding
If Sara assumed Joe would say no and he actually said yes it is:
low accuracy
If Sara and Joe do not both that they should take their relationship a step further it is:
low agreement
If Sara assumed her and Joe's opinions are different it is:
low congruency
If Sara and Joe have different definitions on taking their relationship to the next level it is:
low understanding
The easiest stage of the process for us to influence is:
media attention
Public opinion leads to:
media attention > political notice > laws > rules
High agreement and high congruency =
monolithic consensus
What is the difference between persuasion and manipulation?
persuasion is an interactive process working toward mutually beneficial outcomes. manipulation is persuasion without an ethical frame work.
High agreement and low congruency =
pluralistic ignorance
