From Groups to Persuasion HUMAN COMMUNICATION From Groups to Persuasion

Review of Interpersonal Communication How does popular culture use schemas to draw in audiences? How do politicians use Self identity to draw in voters? What flaws do you see in the theories we discussed? Any?

Group Communication Tell me about the groups you have been a part of

Group Development Theory (Tuckman) Forming Stage Seek information, careful Storming Stage Conflict Norming Stage Cohesion Performing Stage Focus on objectives Adjourning Stage Disbands

Groups Task vs. Social Focus Functional Theory Understanding the problem Est. of goals ID alternative realistic proposals Evaluate Alternatives Groupthink!! Does it happen?

Persuasion Dates back to Aristotle and rhetoric Directed social influence A communication effort aimed at changing attitude, intention or behavior Shape, reinforce, or change Is it propaganda? One vs. Two-sided messages

Attitude Derived to motivate behavior in order to exert effects at various stages of processing Attitudes are processed according to a set of processing elements Awareness is not the same as attitude Derived from a indirect and direct experiences

Attitude Three classes (Eagley & Chaiken, 1993) Cognitive- all thoughts Affective- feelings and emotions Behavioral- actions with respect to the attitude object How does what we talked about Monday come into play with attitudes?

Sources Credibility Similarity Physical Attraction Of source/ speaker Of evidence and novelty Competence and character Similarity Physical Attraction Social Attractiveness- you would like them List 5 who are credible to you and 5 non-credible Who is the best source for a message?

Selectivity Selective exposure- exposure to messages similar Selective attention- do we pay attention? Selective retention- remember those that are meaningful Selective perception- alter the meaning to fit you Do we do this?

Theory of Reasoned Action Fishbein & Ajzen, 1980 Predict behavioral intentions Intention is the best indicator of action Attitude- Sum of beliefs about performing behavior Evaluation of beliefs Subjective Norms Social appropriateness and pressures

Theory of Planned Behavior Ajzen 1985 Stemmed from TRA Perceived Behavioral Control added (efficacy) Intention versus confidence “A general rule, the more favorable the attitude and the subjective norm, and the greater the perceived control the stronger should the person’s intention to perform the behavior in question”

Elaboration Likelihood Model Two routes of persuasion Central- persistent and resistant to change Peripheral Limited capacity to process information We react based on whether we are Motivated to process (involvement, info relevance) Able to process (cognitive capacity) Have pre-existing positive or negative attitudes

Need for Cognition Need to structure a situation in a meaningful way to help them understand the complex world they live Cacioppo & Petty (1982) “tendency to engage and enjoy thinking” High NFC- intrinsically motivated and will seek complex tasks Low NFC-rather avoid effortful, cognitive work required to derive attitudes based on merit High scrutinize and low will be persuaded peripherally

Monday Read articles Take NFC test We will discuss a case study applying the theories of persuasion and looking at their positives and negatives

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!! Enjoy your weekend!