1. UNIT 17 Resistance and Persistence to Attitude Change

2. REACTANCE

3. HOW IT WORKS 1. Threat to Freedom Some threatens to or actually does take away a freedom we have. 2. Experience Reactance Internal drive to reestablish or restore the lost or threatened freedom.

4. WHAT WE MAY DO 1. Perform the threatened behavior 2. Argue against the restriction 3. Changing attitudes towards the restricted freedom and alternatives

5. Romeo & Juliet Effect (Driscoll, Davis, & Lipetz, 1972) 1. Couples (2-groups) a. Parents against their relationship b. Parents for their relationship 2. Results

6. Explaining Reactions to Censorship (Worchel, Arnold, & Baker, 1975)

7. ATTITUDE STRENGTH & RESISTANCE

8. Attitude Strength As attitudes become more important to us, our resistance to persuasion increases (latitude of reject)

9. Commitment When we are committed to a position we won’t listen to counter arguments, and we attempt to stay consistent with our past actions.

10. SELECTIVITY PROCESSES We like to hold on to our attitudes and not lose them.

11. Selective Exposure and Attention We expose ourselves and attend to messages that are in agreement with our attitudes and avoid ones that do not agree with them.

12. Selective Perception and Judgment We may distort incoming information to the extent that it seems to be quite consistent with our attitudes.

13. Selective Memory We tend to recall thoughts consistent with our attitudes and forget ones that are not so consistent.

14. INOCULATION

15. How it Works 1. Biological Metaphor Just like getting a shot to build up resistance to an illness. 2. Application If we want someone to be resistant to a message, give them enough of it and guide them through resistance of it.

16. TWO APPROCHES

17. Warning of future persuasive intent 1. Tell them that someone will be trying to persuade them in the future 2. This makes an audience more resistant and more likely to listen to a counterargument later when they have listened to the other message

18. Warning of specific future arguments 1. Tell the audience specific arguments they may encounter in the future 2. This makes the audience more resistant to the message and even gets them to begin counterarguments against the message

19. Inoculation and Issue Involvement Warnings tend to create greater resistance to persuasion on topics of high issue involvement for the receivers.

20. Implications This is an effective way to make persuasive messages last longer.

21. I NTERFERENCE

22. Proactive Interference Recent memories are lost because older ones get in the way. In other words, older memories interfere with our newer memories and the newer ones are lost.

23. Retroactive Interference Older memories are lost because newer ones get in the way. In other words, newer memories interfere with our older memories and the older ones are lost.

24. Sleeper Effect or Decay of Message Effects

25. When the strength of some aspect of a communicated message weakens over time. It could be the source’s effect or some type of peripheral cue.

26. How it Works 1. Cues attached to the message a. Positive: The source is credible. The argument is solid. b. Negative: Source is not credible, few arguments, or weak arguments. 2. Over time, cues detach from message – we forget the source, and arguments

27. 3. Impact of the Message Changes a. When the message is detached from positive cues, the effectiveness of the message decays over time. b. When the message is detached from negative cues, the message may become more effective over time.

28. Necessary Conditions 1) Message impact on attitudes – message must have influenced the audience’s attitudes. 2) Cue power – The cue must have had some effect on the attitudes 3) Timely detachment of cues – Audience forgets the cue before they forget the message’s content

29. Processing Route & Persistence to Change Persuasion is more persistent when it occurs centrally