Obstinant Uncle Otis and the Art of Persuasion. Back at the Barnyard.

“Some people are extremely gullible. They tend to accept unreservedly almost anything authoritative they read, see, or hear. They adopt one opinion, then it’s very antithesis. Like the branches of a willow in the wind, they seem to sway first one way, then the other. Others though more reserved in their reaction to persuasion, tend to be highly susceptible to special appeals.”

Yikes.🤕😳🫣😬😵‍💫😔

Emotional appeals affect some people more than others.

Yikes. Again. 🤕😳🫣😬😵‍💫😔

Bad attitudes.

Good attitudes.

All lives matter.

In the beginning.

In the end.

“Both the Practioners of Persuasian as well as scholars involved in research concerning attitude change and behavior are often appalled by the success and lack of success of their influence and/or predicting human behavior.” (H.W.S.)

Only God knows.

And.

A good dog.

About good attitudes. About bad attitudes.

The nature of attitudes:

Wilbur Schramm (two “mm’s). A pioneer communications researcher, defined attitudes as “ inferred states of readiness to react in an evaluative way, in support for or against a given situation.”

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

The word inferred” is used, Schramm (two “mm’s”) because there is no way to observe an attitude directly.

Directly.

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

Schramm (two “mm’s) further explained that attitudes are assumed as a class of intervening variables in order to explain how the human nervous system converts a given stimulus (an editorial appeal for example) into a given response (hopefully the action called for in the editorial). The term “states of readiness” is used. Schramm (two “mm’s”) said because attitudes are envisaged as operating as predispositions to actions.

Busted!!

Keep tellin ya’ll to stop click baiting.. but ya’ll didn’t listen. Clicking away your thoughts, ideas, opinions and time. Clicking away into oblivion.

”If an editorialist knows the nature of an individuals (or audiences) attitude toward a given object or situation, he can predict that the individual (or audience), stimulated by the object or situation, and being free to act, will act in the direction of the attitude.” (H.W.S.)

Yikes.🤕🫣🙂😬😵‍💫😔😳.

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

Schramm (two “mm’s) explained that “react in an evaluative way” is used because attitudes are envisaged as being concerned with the relative values of life situations.

Busted!! You and your click bait fingers and digits. You thought all along you could hide behind your screen when instead you were just giving it all away.

Sorry.

Lastly. Schramm (two “mm’s) concluded, since the states of readiness to react in an evaluative way to a stimulus/I are learned, that under appropriate conditions they may be presumably reinforced, generalized, or even forgotten.

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

Good attitudes.

Bad attitudes.

Presumably reinforced as a LEARNED behavior.

LEARNED behavior.

Yikes. 🤕🫣😵‍💫😳😬😥😔

Researchers and theorists in communications, psychology, sociology, as well as related disciplines, have also given considerable attention to the often selective, sometimes skeptical, even obstinate role played by audiences in the communications process.

Yikes.🤕🫣😥🙂😬😵‍💫😔😳

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

Perception matters? Not quite in the world of mass communications.

For example. A person who continues to smokes , for example, while being bombarded with editorial persuasian based upon reports from the Surgeon General that smoking is injurious to one’s health, may decide he enjoys smoking so much that it is worth the risk, that the chances of his health suffering are not as serious as some would make out, that he can’t always avoid every possible contingency and still live, or that if he stopped smoking he would put on weight might be equally injurious to his health.(H.W.S)

Yikes.🤕😔😵‍💫🫣😳😥

K.

Makes sense.What do you think?

Dissonance theory generally holds that individuals will attempt to avoid information which tends to be discrepant with their knowledge and understanding of a person or an issue. Communication theorists have long held that readers and listeners tend to expose themselves more to persuasive appeals with which they are already in substantial agreement, avoiding exposure to information which is at variance with their predispositions.(H.W.S)

That. And they may just not want hear it.

Yikes🤕😳😔😬😵‍💫🫣.

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

While there may be “selective-avoidance tendency”, still other researchers have pointed out that there seems to be an equal or greater opposite tendency to seek out surprising or discrepant information.

Personality and Persuasion. Persuasion and Personality. Tomatoes Tomatos. Potatoes. Potatos.

One of the most persuasive aspects of personality is the manner in which an individual views himself—the degree of self-esteem he displays. A person displaying confidence, optimism and competence is said to have high self-esteem. One who displays feelings of inadequacy, social inhibition, or anxiety is said to have low self-esteem.😔

Much research supports the hypothesis suggest that persons with low self esteem are more willing to agree with the opinions of others, since they have little confidence in their own opinions.

Yikes.🤕😵‍💫😔😳🫣😬

K.

Makes sense. What do you think?

Intentions and influencers. And their motivational messages.

Where’d I put the Advil for my now pounding headache.

To the extent that attitudes and opinions are held as the best explanation of a factual situation, opinions may be susceptible to change by exposing a person to new facts. Some attitudes and opinions may be held because they make a person more accepted in social groups or civic organizations. Still some attitudes and opinions are held to provide a rationalization for a disappointment or shortcoming. 😔 (H.W.S)

Godiva, Hershey, Nestle or Swiss Miss.

Bringing about change is akin to psychological warfare. A good communicator knows this, not simply for the bottom line, but the process of good and meaningful change along the way. The more understanding that exists, the better the benefits outweigh the end result no matter the influencers intentions and motivations.

As a consumer of endless streams of data and information. It would behoove an honest service person to practice the concepts of focus and attention on the active, selective, skeptical and obstinate individual and/or group of individuals and not simply the so called “sure thing”. Not simply the end result.

The process is often the punishment and that is not usually, normally, humanly easily forgotten.