Discuss the relationship between persuasion and attitude change - Media Psychology
Christopher Ball
Discuss the relationship between persuasion and attitude change.
According to Schwerin and Newell (1981), behavioural change cannot occur without attitude change having taken place. This process of changing attitudes with the ultimate goal of changing behaviour has led psychologists to look at the ‘Science’ of persuasion.
The Hovland-Yale Model, The model was initially designed to persuade the American public to increase levels of support in the closing stages of world war two. The basic principle of the model is who says what to whom.
Source factors are an important factor when it comes to persuasion; experts are more effective because they are more credible than non-experts. Research support for source factors Morton and Campbell (2008) examined the effects of information source on peers’ attitudes towards child with autism. Child with the mean age of 10 received information about an unfamiliar autistic child from different sources such as ‘teacher’, ‘parent’ and ‘doctor’. Children reported more favourable attitudes towards the child when the information was from an extra-familial source e.g. doctor, that when provided by a parent.