Consistent with the old adage, forewarned is forearmed, psychologists have discovered that forewarning often leads to resistance, which is decreased persuasion in the direction of the influence attempt. Without hinting to the color manipulation, participants were reminded to read the. Color priming and forewarning school of professors. Mcguire suggested that attitudes could be inoculated against persuasive attacks in much the same way that ones immune system can be inoculated against viral attacks. Forewarning, cognitive responding, and resistance to persuasion. Strategies and motives for resistance to persuasion. At the core of inoculation theory mcguire, 1961a,b is a biological metaphor. Forewarning, cognitive responding, and resistance to. The inoculation theory was proposed by mcguire in response to a situation where the goal is to persuade someone not to be persuaded by another. In this experiment, we manipulated forewarning by providing premessage information about the topic and position tptype forewarning, or the topic only totype forewarning of.
The cognitive mediation explanation of this effect is that the warning motivates people to engage in anticipatory counterarguing prior to receiving the message. Petty and cacioppo 1986 and earlier, apsler and sears 1968 and papageorgis 1968 have distinguished between forewarning of intent to persuade versus forewarning of the content of the appeal. Attitude importance, forewarning of message content, and. The results indicated that if warned subjects were personally involved with the attitude issue, they became resistant to the persuasive appeal when they were not. Glen hass dissertation was titled, resisting persuasion and examining message content. Results showed that the forewarning produced resistance to persuasion and that resistance was mediated directly by counterarguments during the presentation of the communication, and indirectly by psychological reactance in the postwarning. The theory is a model for building resistance to persuasion attempts by exposing people to arguments against their beliefs and. Attitude importance, forewarning of message content, and resistance to persuasion. Research done in the field of persuasion has shown that forewarning can effectively confer resistance to persuasion compared to a lack of forewarning. Generally speaking, for example, in undergraduate social psychology textbooks, forewarning is presented as a factor that produces resistance to persuasion. This research suggests that this explanation provides only a partial understanding of forewarning effects. Psychological processes mediating persuasioninhibiting. Forewarning and resistance to persuasionjacks and devine attitude importance, forewarning of message content, and resistance to persuasion julia zuwerink jacks department of psychology university of north carolina at greensboro patricia g. Several books, book chapters, empirical articles, and theoretical articles have been written on the nature and effects of psychological reactance and resistance.
Linn 8 looking ahead as a technique to reduce resistance to persuasive attempts 149 steven j. Pdf forewarning, cognitive responding, and resistance to. Resistance to persuasion can also be strategically induced to guard against counter persuasion. Counter arguing can be encouraged by forewarning wood and quinn, 2003, i.
Attitude importance, forewarning of message content, and resistance to persuasion article in basic and applied social psychology 221. Distraction can facilitate persuasion by interfering with the production of counterarguments to a message. The literature on resistance to persuasion has spawned many insights on the various ways in which people may resist persuasion attempts and on how resistance is influenced by other variables. Hence, research suggests that forewarning leads to resistance to persuasion due to the greater opportunity to counterargue and bolster ones opinion dean et al. Resistance to counterpersuasion attacks from an opposing side can be induced by forewarning an audience that an attempt to change their attitudes and behavior will occur. The effects of source credibility and recipient commitment on counterargument production. Inoculation theory, a theory of conferring resistance to persuasive influence, has established efficacy as a messaging strategy in the health domain. Effects of the evaluative characteristics of forewarning. Inoculation theory functions as a strategy to protect attitudes from changeto confer resistance to counterattitudinal influences, whether such influences take the form of direct attacks, indirect attacks, sustained pressures, etc. The present article aims to provide an overarching structure for this research and advances several propositions for future research. This topic is covered frequently in social psychology because the effects of persuasion are seen everywhere and are applicable in everyday life. One method of increasing attitude strength involves forewarning. The present essay will demonstrate the role of forewarning and inoculation in the process of resistance to persuasion.
The core tenets of forewarning, inoculation and its theoretical basis will firstly be outlined mcguire, 1961a. Changing attitudes through persuasion principles of. Mcguire and demetrios papageorgis, year1962 william j. Mcguire and demetrios papageorgis in a fundamental comparison of the results of experimental and survey studies of attitude change, carl hovland pointed out a characteristic difference in the defenses ordinarily applied by the participants in the two kinds of. Persuasion and resistance to persuasion are one of most extensively studied topic areas in social psychology. In the first part of the questionnaire, the participants were given a timed anagram task to.
The role of forewarning and inoculation psychology essay. Take a full course on the psychology of persuasion and influence. As hypothesized, forewarning of the communicators persuasive intent inhibited persuasion regardless of the length of the delay period, but forewarning of the topic and position required a delay in order to confer resistance to subsequent persuasion, suggesting that although both manipulations have been called forewarning they may lead to. Darren is the salesperson of a consumer goods manufacturer.
Opening statement, closing argument, and persuasion in. Identify the persuasion technique that darren is using. The present study was designed to investigate the evaluative characteristics of forewarning on persuasion. Summarize the variables that make us more or less resistant to persuasive. Changing attitudes through persuasion bc open textbooks. Forewarnings include such phrases as, and now a word from our sponsors, that precede ads designed to persuade listeners.
Resisting persuasion communication oxford bibliographies. In medical immunization, weakened forms of viruses are injected into the body, and the body. In fact, the earliest research on the theory in the 1960s involved health issues to build empirical support for tenets in the inoculation framework. By examining resistance, and providing strategies for overcoming it, this new book generates insight into new facets of influence and persuasion. Mcguire is associate professor of social psychology in the new department of social psychology at columbia university. The effectiveness of forewarning increases when a greater time delay occurs between the warning and the message, because this gives them the. In experiment 1, personal involvement, warning of message content, and distraction during the forewarning message interval were manipulated. Resistance and persuasion is the first book to analyze the nature of resistance and demonstrate how it can be reduced, overcome, or used to promote persuasion. Mcguire, a social psychologist who in the 1960s gave us the first major theory concerning resistance to persuasion, suggests that forewarning should precede the adverse influence by at least two days.
Temporal delay, type of forewarning, and resistance to. Integrating theory, research, and practice provides persuasion skills students seek integrated with persuasion theories instructors want to teach the two approaches that have often been at odds with one another persuasion. Hass served at brooklyn college as assistant professor 197175 and associate professor 197684 before becoming professor in. The problem is that many of us later regret having been taken in and wish we were more skilled at resisting the smooth talk of others. Preventing persuasion open textbooks for hong kong. Persuasion resistance is a natural defense against pressure.
So when the persuasion attempt comes, they avoid facing the reality. Devine department of psychology university of wisconsin at madison. The results indicated that if warned subjects were personally involved with the attitude issue, they became resistant to the persuasive appeal when they were not cognitively distracted after warning. Over the ensuing decades, scholars have further examined the effectiveness of inoculationbased. One of the things that makes prospects uncomfortable around salespeople is the feeling that theyre going to get the hard sell or be tricked into agreeing to something thats not in their best interest.
On subsequent sales calls, he requests them to keep costlier items. Two experiments were conducted to advance our understanding of the effects of forewarning on persuasion. Warning participants of the topic and position of an upcoming message often results in increased resistance to persuasion. Subsequent research shows that resistance following forewarning can take the. Anticipated interaction, confidence and forewarning will interact to affect selective exposure. The influence of persuasive strategies used by cultic. Building defenses after an attack is much less effective than doing it before. When calling on retailers for the first time, he requests them to stock a cheap item. Integrating theory, research, and practice provides persuasion skills students seek integrated with persuasion theories instructors want to teach the two approaches that have often been at odds with one another. Psychology definition of forewarning of persuasive position.
Pdf the effects of forewarning of the content of impending discrepant communications on involving topics were investigated in 2 experiments. Forewarnings and inoculation in persuasion uk essays. Together, these experiments provide evidence that anticipatory counterargumentation mediates the resistance to persuasion conveyed by a forewarning of message content. Mcguire 1964, on inoculation theory, was one of the first works to discuss the topic of resistance toward persuasion, defining it as a persons ability to withstand a persuasive. Integrating theory, research, and practice explains the five major theories of persuasion.
The following chapters show how resistance can be reduced, and therefore persuasion achieved, by training people to be appropriately resistant, by postponing consequences to the future, by focusing resistance on realistic concerns, by forewarning that a message will be coming, by simply acknowledging resistance, by raising selfesteem and a. There is evidence that a simple forewarning induce resistance to persuasion. So when the persuasion attempt comes, they avoid facing the reality that the. Subsequent research shows that resistance following forewarning can. Effectiveness of forewarning in developing resistance to persuasion.
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